


Onii/Onee

by Nevermorexxx



Series: The Heel Siblings [2]
Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: F/M, Fucked Up Relationships, Gen, Jealousy, Mentions of Rape, Possession, Sibling Incest, There are so many things I want to tag for this story but everything is spoilers, Will be adding tags as the story continues, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2018-10-22 15:08:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10699533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevermorexxx/pseuds/Nevermorexxx
Summary: They Had Each Other. And that should have been enough. But now that the mysterious man known as Actor X has been revealed to the public, Cain and Setsuka have their hands full dealing with the new found attention and growing careers. However, their dark past has to catch up with them at some point and when it does, will having each other be enough to pull themselves out of the darkness once again?(PLEASE read They Had Each Other before reading this story!!!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously excited to finally be writing this story a year after writing the prologue! :D Hope you guys enjoy the ride!

The sun had begun to rise. In fact, Setsuka was fairly sure it had been up for a while now. She sighed in annoyance. They had to get up early this morning. She was positive she set her phone alarm to 8am so that she would at least have time to make breakfast and time to eat said breakfast before they had to go out. 

 

Today was the day the mysterious actor that played BJ in Tragic Marker would be revealed. Setsuka didn’t see the need for such formalities at all, considering she didn’t even understand why the director wanted to keep her brother’s identity a secret to begin with. 

 

She sighed again.

 

Sometimes being Cain Heel’s manager was really too much work. She’d rather spend the day cuddling with him in bed then forcing him to get up and spend time around people that were not her. Her eyebrow twitched in irritation. She would have to see that Hamster girl again, the one that was so adamant about getting her brother’s attention all the time. Setsu would have hoped she learned her place after having it bluntly spelled out for her, but maybe her expectations were too high. 

 

In any event she needed to get up. No matter how much she REALLY didn’t want to. 

 

Her brother’s arms were still tightly wrapped around her body from the night before. Being enveloped by his scent, cigarettes and mint, and his warmth was better than anything she could possibly imagine. A smirk played on her lips as an idea came to her mind. He would scold her for sure, but it was worth it. 

 

She lifted her hand, which had been gripping onto his shoulders, and raked her long nails across the expanse of his back. He shuddered in his sleep. Her smirk grew. She drew her nails down his back further until she reached his waist His sweatpants hung low on it, probably loosened in his sleep. Her heart beat faster when he stirred slightly, his sides were the slightest bit ticklish. Her hand moved under his arm and her fingernails made her way up to his chest and delicately up his neck. Her hand lovingly rested against his ear and her fingers moved to wipe across his lips. Although not in her plans, she couldn’t resist stretching upwards to plant a chaste kiss on his lips. 

 

His eyes opened immediately. 

 

“Good morning, nii-san.” She greeted, sweetly. Her hand brushed his dark hair from his face. He looked at her dazedly not quite awake. 

 

His hand rose up and a gentle thumb brushed under her eyes. She could feel the dried tears on her face and knew that he was silently asking if she was okay. 

 

The answer was complicated. She wasn't, but she also knew no better feeling than being held in his embrace. The night before had been plagued with nightmares, of course they weren't any worse than the ones she usually had, but the problem was that she'd had the same exact one for five days in a row and the stress was starting to get to her. But Cain didn't need to know that. He blamed himself enough as it was. 

 

Feigning ignorance to the question, she asked one herself. 

 

“What would you like for breakfast?” Cain studied her face for a moment before removing his arm from under her and draping it over his face as he rolled over onto his back. He wanted her to answer his question first. 

 

There had been a time where he might have made his point with words but in all they had been through in the last three years Cain had slowly resorted to talking only when he felt it necessary such as times when he couldn't express himself physically or found verbal language more effective in the situation. Or perhaps it had come about from spending so much time in Japan, around people who spoke a language he wasn't fully comfortable with. So, she had gotten used to the newly developed mannerisms and could read him well enough to understand exactly what he meant. 

 

She sighed, rolling over and getting out of the bed. She stood at the edge and stretched her arms over her head, making her camisole rise and expose her creamy white skin. She was trying to distract him and they both knew it. 

 

And based on the stony look he gave her from under his arm he wasn't falling for it. 

Setsuka bent down to look for her phone and groaned to herself when she realized it had died because she forgot to plug in the charger. With a huff, she plugged it in, knowing it would hardly do any good now. 

 

Cain was watching her, looking for any sign that she wasn’t okay since she refused to acknowledge his silent questions. She wouldn’t even make eye contact with him now. 

 

“So, nii-san,” Setsu began, walking into the kitchen. “You’ve got a busy day today. Please, get out of bed and into the shower while I work on breakfast.” 

 

Cain watched her legs as she left. Those shorts she wore to sleep really were too little and too much at the same time.

 

As much as he didn’t want to get up, they really did have a busy day. His identity would be announced to the public, followed by many interviews and as Director Konoe had promised him “many job offers”. 

 

He stood from the bed and was about to go into the bathroom when an idea came to his mind. 

 

“You don’t want to join me?” He asked, voice gruff with sleepiness, taking a few steps in the direction of the kitchen. Setsu had frozen, leaning down into the refrigerator to grab ingredients for breakfast. 

 

He had pulled out one of his trump cards. He didn’t often invite her to shower with him, most of the time she would beg him to join her in the bath but that was it. Because of that, Setsuka knew it was a trap. If she agreed she would have to answer his question. 

 

The truth was she couldn’t honestly say that she was okay and she would rather die than lie to her brother. She was still shaky and the many nights of minimum amounts of sleep was starting to get to her, but she couldn’t tell him that. It would distract him and he’d probably force her to stay home and get some sleep. At the same time, refusing his offer was just as good as saying that she wasn’t okay. Because no way in her right mind would she ever refuse such a thing. 

 

She looked at the time displayed on the oven. The answer suddenly came to her. 

 

“Nii-san. It’s already 9. We need to be on set by 10.” She huffed in exaggerated concern. 

 

Cain lifted an eyebrow. He was not impressed. While shooting for Tragic Marker they had been hours late and it hadn’t bothered her in the slightest. She was never this stubborn about not telling him when there was something wrong. He couldn’t help but feel hurt. 

 

He walked over to where his little sister was standing, pulling her by the hand into a hug. 

 

“Setsu…” He mumbled. “Look at me.” She did as she was told. 

 

“Are you okay?” He asked outright, tired of her dodging the question. Setsuka sighed, wrapping her arms around her brother. 

 

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it so much.” He hugged her tighter. 

 

“ _ Be _ fine?” He repeated, unable to look her in the eyes anymore he mumbled into her hair. 

 

“Yes. I’ll  _ be _ fine.” Cain ran his hand through his sister’s hair. Maybe he should make her stay here and get some sleep. 

 

“I’m going with you.” Setsu said sternly, almost as if she had heard his thought. 

 

“Setsu..” He trailed off. He didn’t want to argue with her but if she wasn’t feeling well…

 

“Cain.” She said right back. She only called him by name when she was being very serious. 

 

He sighed and begrudgingly acquiesced. He stepped away from her and stood close, observing her as she prepared breakfast. 

 

“Go and get in the shower already.” She instructed, a smirk ghosting her lips when she realized he had forgotten.

 

* * *

 

 

Surprisingly they managed to be almost an hour late. Surprising because the crew had deemed their tardiness as them not showing up although Director Konoe had assured them they were. Konoe was making the announcement about BJ’s identity on one of Japan’s favorite morning talk shows. So, unlike on the set of Tragic Marker, they had a specific time slot that Cain Heel was bordering on missing completely. At least the announcement was to be made at the end of the show so they had a slightly bigger margin of time.

 

As the Heel siblings entered the building all thoughts of reprimanding the two for being late instantly left the minds of all that saw them. 

 

Much to Cain’s dismay, Setsuka had insisted on dressing up for the occasion since she would actually be making an appearance on Tv. She was wearing her favorite knee-length chunky black leather boots, a black corset-like cropped top, and her shortest black skirt with the exception that it was looser than most of the ones she owned, black stocking reached up from her boots to meet the skirt, and she had on her favorite lacy fingerless black gloves. The various chains and loops on her outfit and hanging from her neck made tinkling noises as she sashayed into the building. She was also wearing one of Cain’s black trench coats that he had practically thrown onto her when he saw her outfit. 

 

And Cain, put into a bad mood by seeing his sister’s outfit, was wearing an even more murderous glare than usual. 

 

“Can she actually wear that on national tv?” Someone near them whispered. Cain turned his head towards the speaker and the woman seemed to turn several shades paler before scampering off mumbling apologies. 

 

“U-um… are you Heel-sama?” A meek looking worker asked in Japanese, avoiding eye contact with the taller man but shivering in fear all the same. Cain looked to his sister to answer. 

 

“ _ Hai _ .” Setsu answered in a bored tone. The terrified woman nodded jerkily despite the confusion on her face and looked at her clipboard. 

 

“T-then please follow me to your d-dressing room.” The woman turned around immediately and started walking quickly to the dressing room. 

 

“We don’t have much time to get your makeup sorted.” The woman continued, feeling safer now that the two were out of her sight. How someone could give off that much contempt without even saying a word terrified her. 

 

After a few moments they arrived at their destination. 

 

“S-someone will be here in just a-a moment.” The woman stated before running off. 

 

Cain opened the door for his sister and followed her inside. Silently, he made his way to the only chair in the small room, by the vanity, and sat down heavily.  

 

Setsuka looked around the room lazily. She regretted not drinking any coffee this morning, the little sleep she had last night was catching up to her. She focused instead on her brother’s adorable pouting face. 

 

“Nii-san, why are you in such a bad mood?” She asked, leaning against the wall. His face softened slightly. He had no reason to look at his beloved sister like that. 

 

“I don’t like what you’re wearing.” Setsu looked down at her outfit,  _ ah _ , so that was it. 

“Don’t lie to me,” She purred, crossing the room to stand in front of him. She placed her hands on his knees and whispered in his ear. 

 

“ _ You like what I’m wearing. I bet you like it a lot _ .” She leaned back to look at his face, he was still frowning but his face had a degree of strain in it. She smirked. 

 

“ _ You just don’t like that other people can see me looking this good _ .” Setsu lifted her leg and straddled his lap. She was teasing him to the max. Her skirt was so short that if Cain even glanced down she would be flashing him with her lacy underwear. She hooked her arms around his neck forcing it downwards a little. She brought her mouth so close to his ear that at every word she spoke her lips were brushing against it.

“ _ Don’t worry, nii-san. I’m all yours- _ **_forever_ ** _. Isn’t that right? _ ” Cain just grunted in response. Somehow he couldn’t find his voice. He both loved and hated when his sister acted like this with him. He loved that she wouldn’t ever do this to anyone else. But he hated the urges that welled up in him that he couldn’t ever act on. Because the simple truth was that she was right. He didn’t hate her outfit, he fucking loved it. He loved the way her thighs looked in those boots, the way all that black made her white skin stand out that much more, the way he nearly drooled just looking at her. And he was pissed because he knew that everyone else that saw her saw exactly what he did and most thought the same about her as well. But she was also right when she said that she was his, because she was. And he was just as much hers. 

 

A knock on the door ruined the moment. Setsu kissed Cain on the corner of his mouth quickly before climbing off of him. 

 

“Excuse me…?” A pretty girl with hair dyed light brown poked her head in the door. 

 

“Oh. You’re Heel-sama, yes?” She asked. She was admittedly confused. All her co-workers had basically been wishing her happiness in the afterlife when they saw who she was to be working with and she had been rightfully scared. But the man in front of her had a small smile on his face and although the way the two people in the room were dressed was rather intimidating she didn’t really see any reason to be as terrified as her coworkers said she would be. 

 

Cain nodded and the woman entered the room. 

 

“Nice to meet you both, I’m Iwamoto Runa. I’ll be doing some touch-up makeup for the show. Please take care of me.” She greeted, bowing her head respectfully. 

 

“My brother doesn’t speak Japanese very well, so if he needs to say something to you I’ll be translating.” Setsu said, not bothering to introduce herself. Runa looked surprised but nodded, fishing out some makeup brushes from her pouch. 

 

“Are you going to be going on stage as well, Heel-san?” Runa asked, directing her question at Setsu as she tried to find the right color makeup for Cain’s face. 

“Yeah.” Setsu replied. She had grown bored and was carefully inspecting her black nail polish. 

 

Runa paused and looked at Setsu’s face. She already had a lot of make-up on so it wasn’t like she needed to add anymore, Runa concluded, focusing her attention on Cain once again. 

 

Someone else knocked on the door a few moments later. It was Director Konoe. 

 

“Are we almost ready in here?” He asked, stepping into the room. His face reddened when his gaze fell upon Setsu. Honestly, how could she walk around looking so promiscuous? He turned away immediately but not soon enough for Cain to miss his reaction. The small smile was long gone as he glared at the director. Runa who had turned around to bow slightly to the director noticed the change in his facial expression and shivered. Was this what everyone was talking about?

 

Konoe cleared his throat nervously. 

 

“Ehm… Anyways,” He was scared to even talk to Setsuka now even though he needed to ask a question. 

 

“Is Setsuka-chan going to be joining you on stage Cain-san? And as an interpreter or your sister?” Cain’s face had darkened even further at the mention of her name. Setsu sighed, all that work she had done to get him to relax had gone down the drain. 

 

She walked over to him and translated Konoe’s questions into his ear. Cain mumbled his answer in english, he would have turned to Setsu but Runa was applying makeup around his eyes and moving suddenly could be dangerous. 

 

“Both.” Came his reply from Setsu’s mouth. The shorter man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Introducing her to the world probably wasn't the best idea, considering the kind of relationship the two siblings had, but he valued his life a little too much to dispute such a thing with Cain. But… it really just was a bad idea all around. 

 

Honestly, Setsu was also surprised by her brothers answer. She didn't think it was the best idea to tell everyone that they were siblings, especially not if any acting jobs were going to be in danger because of it. She decided to try to avoid introducing herself as such. Besides she was the translator, it would probably be simple to not say who she was exactly. 

 

“Alright.” Konoe responded after a long moment. “Anyways,” he looked at Runa. “I think he's due on set in about 10 minutes.” 

 

“Okay. I'll be done in a few minutes, thank you.” She paused what she was doing to bow politely towards him. “I'm sorry you were made to tell me this, everything has been a little hectic this morning I hope you can understand.” 

 

Konoe laughed a little at her overly polite display. 

 

“It's alright. I understand, sometimes these things just can't be helped.” Especially if the main guest of the show is almost an hour late, he added mentally. He waved a hand as he exited the room and was able to breathe hatred-free air again. 

 

Setsu, grown bored again, had popped a stick of gum into her mouth and was trying to see just how large of a bubble she could blow before it popped. Her brother looked on in amusement. 

 

A few minutes later Runa hummed happily. 

 

“All done! Alright, you still have a few minutes before you're needed on set but you should probably go ahead and head down.” She said, speaking to both siblings. 

 

Cain grunted in response. Setsu popped her gum. Runa couldn't help but to find interest in this strange duo. They were so strange and off in a world that nobody else was invited to. 

 

“Nice meeting you both.” She spoke, bowing her head once more before leaving the room and shutting it behind her. 

 

A few minutes went by as the siblings breathed in silence. 

 

Finally an exasperated Setsu spoke up. 

 

“Nii-san.” He merely grunted in response. He was  _ so grouchy _ today. 

 

She walked over to him again. He couldn't go on national TV with this attitude. 

 

She hooked a finger under his chin and within a second had slipped her tongue into his mouth sliding the gum in her mouth into his. She stepped back as soon as she was finished, this was after all technically the third time she had kissed him today and sooner or later he would stop letting her. She grinned at his surprised response and although she was blushing like mad she felt like she had won just now. 

 

“For good luck!” She cheered, “Now, let’s go introduce nii-san to the world!” 

 

Cain was shocked to be completely honest. She had slid her tongue into his mouth so fast and then she was standing at the door grinning down at him and he had her gum in his mouth. She was going to be the death of him, for sure. He stood from his chair in a daze but draped an arm around Setsu as they headed off to the stage. 

 

* * *

 

 

The shows host, Chino Miu, looked visibly frightened when Cain walked onstage. She had of course seen Tragic Marker, simply to see what all the buzz was about the mysterious actor X -  _ really he wasn't even credited in the movie _ . But as Konoe stood and shook hands with the man who he introduced to be Cain Heel, the mysterious Actor X, she realized that the striking fear she had felt while watching BJ in the movie was less the cause of the character and more due to the actual man. 

 

Her heart beat thunderously in her chest as he walked over to her and reached out a hand, she was surprised but the part of her brain still functioning instructed her to shake it as it was a western greeting. 

 

He was tall, taller than he had seemed in the movie and emanated that same haunting and dangerous aura even though he was had a small smile on his face. Instead of being comforted by it she was reminded of the smirk that BJ wore in the movie. The sinister one that had her shivering and grabbing onto her boyfriend in the theatre. 

 

Somehow she might have even been able to speak a greeting to him before he turned and sat down on the couch. 

 

As he sat Miu was then able to see a much shorter and more asian looking girl, that had also taken a seat on the couch without greeting her. Though she was glad that the girl hadn’t. She wasn’t evoking the same fear that Cain was but the look in her slate grey eyes were full of disdain and her outfit was…  _ was she really allowed to wear that on national television? _

 

Her audience seemed almost as shocked by the two as she was, a hushed blanket had covered the room- everyone just as unsettled as she was. She had no idea why the girl was here in the first place, she had only been told that she would be interviewing Actor X and Director Konoe. 

 

With a start, she realized that the three people on her couch were staring at her expectantly. She cleared her throat nervously and glanced down at the short list of questions she had prepared. 

 

With a deep breath she faced the intense gaze of Cain Heel, ignoring the instinctive urge to run away when she did. 

 

“So, Heel-sama, was it? We’re all dying to know, why all the secrecy about your identity?” She had braced herself for his response and was surprised when Konoe spoke instead. 

 

“Well, it was mostly for publicity purposes. Cain-san was a relatively new actor that was introduced to me and I was very impressed with his acting ability and thought we could play on the mystery of BJ and make the actor just as mysterious. Not to mention, I love a good surprise.” 

 

She nodded, it had certainly worked. The opening weekend had produced more ticket sales than any single Ren Tsuruga film ever had in it’s opening. A feat not easily obtained, especially by a newbie actor

 

“Well, it certainly worked. I even saw the movie myself, how many others in here have?” She asked, directing her question to the audience who responded loudly. 

 

“So, who exactly  _ is _ Cain Heel? Tell us about yourself.” Miu risked making eye contact with him, to emphasize that she wanted him to answer, given that he hadn’t said a single word yet. 

 

Instead, she was surprised again when the girl in the revealing black clothes leaned over and began talking into Cain’s ear. The man was quiet for a while listening, then he responded in a deep voice speaking…  _ English _ ? The girl nodded when he finished and then both of them were looking at her sending a pang of fear through her heart. 

 

“He says: Cain Heel is who you’re speaking to. He’s from England, 23 years old, and doesn’t speak Japanese that well.” Miu’s eyes widened in complete shock. How could he have acted in a completely Japanese movie and not speak the language well? Though, thinking harder about it she realized that BJ really hadn’t spoken very much throughout the movie. Still, why had nobody told her? 

 

She felt her cheeks redden in frustration. The least the girl could have done was introduce herself as his translator to begin with. 

 

Konoe seemed to notice her distress. “My apologies, Setsuka Heel is Cain’s sister and translator.” He explained. 

 

Miu frowned now.  _ Sister _ ? Her gaze went back to the blonde girl who almost seems to be scowling now, she had a streak of pink in hair and her lips were a bright scarlet with a metal ring in her lip that connected to a black choker around her neck. Then she looked into her eyes. Then into Cain Heel’s. They shared the same cold, slate grey stare. 

 

But… nothing else about them said they were siblings. Their body language was… different. Suggested something different. They looked like they belonged together, but not as brother and sister. 

 

She shook the thought off, attributing it to the strange idiosyncrasies of Western cultures. 

 

“So,” She began, trying to focus on the interview. “BJ is quite the…  _ intense _ character. What was it like to play him?”  

 

* * *

 

 

Setsuka was sleepy. The interview had gone on forever and was one of the most boring experiences she had ever had. The interviewer, Setsuka really didn’t even know her name, was so visibly uncomfortable with her and Cain that it was almost laughable. Almost. What  _ was _ laughable was the face she had made when Konoe had told everyone that Setsuka was Cain’s sister. 

 

Speaking of, they were now outside of his office- waiting as he spoke on the phone. 

 

After the interview Konoe's phone had begun to ring and hadn’t stopped since. He had driven them to his office and instructed them to wait with an overly excited look on his face and Setsu had promptly made herself comfortable in her chair, which meant being more on Cain’s lap than her own seat and taken a nap. 

 

Now, hours later- judging by how dark it had become outside- she awoke and stretched her limbs out like a feline. She breathed in deeply, and noticed with surprise that a limb had been stretched over her waist. She looked up, into the tender eyes of her brother, and decided to stay where she was instead of moving back into her own seat as she had been planning. 

 

“You should have stayed home.” He said softly, the rumble of his voice comforting. 

 

“Why is that?” She questioned in return, speaking just as softly. 

 

“You’re obviously more tired than you said you were.” Setsuka frowned. That made it seem as if he thought she had lied to him. She shifted her position again, so that she was now sitting and the arm that had been laid over her waist was forced to loop around her shoulder instead. 

 

“I’m fine.” She stated firmly, looking into his eyes. “I just felt like taking a nap since we weren’t doing anything.” Cain’s face changed ever so slightly and he lifted a hand to run his fingers through her hair as he turned away. 

 

She sighed, giving up. He really was in such a bad mood today. 

 

They sat in silence for a few moments before Konoe finally emerged from his office looking exhausted but that bright look of excitement in his eyes was even brighter now. 

 

“Cain!” He cried in joy, face reddening only when he realized he had called the man without an honorific. He cleared his throat and presented a stack of papers to the dark man. 

 

“You have way more offers than I could have ever anticipated! Even more important than the acting offers though,” Konoe pointed to the top of the list in Cain’s hand. “The companies that want to represent you. Including one of the most prestigious talent agencies, LME!” 

 

Cain looked almost disinterestedly through the stack of papers. Setsuka already knew she was going to have go through them herself. Her eyes drifted back over to Konoe and the few papers he was still holding. He looked nervous. 

 

“We’ll look over them.” Setsuka spoke. “Is that all?” 

 

Konoe looked at her and opened his mouth, then closing it looked back at Cain uncomfortably. 

 

“What?” Cain demanded in Japanese, not liking the look he gave Setsu. 

  
“Well,” He presented the few papers in his hand to Setsuka instead of Cain. “There are also a handful of offers for Setsuka-chan.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case anyone is wondering, Cain and Setsuka will both be interacting with characters from Skip Beat. I just don't want to say too much about that because spoilers ;)


	2. Chapter 2

Setsuka was surprised.

 

She looked over the offers written down, there were actually quite a few.

 

“Two of the ones that stood out were the offers from extremely popular Kei artists.” Konoe offered hesitantly.

 

Cain had stiffened next to her.

 

She looked at the list, trying to find the offers Konoe mentioned. _Sho Fuwa_ and _Vie Ghoul_. Both were requesting that she act in their next music video.

 

“But I can’t act.” She stated.

 

“You wouldn’t really need to.” Konoe explained. “Music videos with these types of artists are usually quite simple. It would be a matter of following directions really.” Setsuka made a face but nodded and looked back down at the other offers.

 

Konoe’s voice was full of excitement once again. “There was another one for-”

 

“Let’s go.” Cain said abruptly, standing up. Konoe blanched and took a few steps back, his face gone ashen from the glare he received.

 

“B-but…” Konoe tried, but Cain paid no attention to him.

 

Setsuka looked up at him from her chair in pure annoyance.

 

“ _Let’s go._ ” Cain repeated, grabbing at her arm. She rolled her eyes and got up, allowing him to pull her along to the elevator.

 

o///o

 

“ **No**.”

 

“But Nii-san-” Setsuka tried again.

 

“ **No**.” Cain snapped, once more.

 

He had nearly dragged her all the way home from Konoe’s office. She had let him, of course. He had seemed genuinely angry but she still didn’t understand why..

 

“Why can’t I?”

 

It wasn’t as if she really wanted to act or anything but if she had something like that to work on she could stay in Japan with him longer instead of going back to school. Tragic Marker was the first foreign role that Cain had accepted and even that was only because Setsuka had begged him too. It was too large of an offer to turn down. And now he had a whole stack of offers from companies wanting to represent him and offers from directors who wanted to cast him in their projects. She just hadn’t realized that he wouldn’t allow her to stay with him throughout the entire filming process. The last few months had been lonely for her. England was too cold and too dark without him.

 

“I don’t want you to. I want you to go back to England and finish your schooling. You don’t need to be distracted.”

 

She had pouted then, the idea of having to separate from him again made her steel eyes misty with unshed tears. She understood his concern of course, it wasn’t as though he didn’t want her to stay but he would blame himself even more if she dropped out of school to stay with him. But even still, she had no idea what she wanted to do after she finished school. She hadn’t ever thought about it. The idea of creating another person that was also yourself in a way seemed appealing, she at least wanted to _try_ it. He was always so overprotective of her, ever since they had left their home, as if he wanted to keep her to himself and hide her from the world.

 

“What if I transferred to a school here?” She offered.

 

The idea had been in her head for a while now. She had looked around at schools around the area and even glanced over their enrollment requirements. Japan’s school system was more demanding of her than England’s but she was still confident she could pass with a little extra work.

 

Cain looked bewildered. “A school _here_ ? In _Japan_?”

 

Setsuka smirked at him.

 

“Yes. Unlike you, I’m actually fluent in the language. A shame mum didn’t raise you to be bilingual.” She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. They didn’t talk about their parents. Mentioning them always made Cain distant as if the thought of their life before now filled him with emotions he couldn’t handle so he just shut off. She wanted to talk about them, though. She really had no idea if her mother had cared that her only children had vanished in the night, leaving her boyfriend a bloody, brutalized mess, and hadn’t been seen in almost three years. Did she really not care about them at all?

 

She didn’t even know if her father was alive or not.

 

Setsuka shuddered at the thought and wrapped her arms around herself. That night plagued her daydreams. The happiness and raw joy she had felt being with her father, the look in her brother’s eye as he walked in on them, the sounds of bloodied fist meeting bloodied bone and flesh, the grin on Cain’s face afterward. She wanted to wipe her memory clean of that day but no matter how safe she felt wrapped in Cain’s embrace she could never forget the look on his face that night. He had scared her. An event she would have never thought possible before then. The nightmares that plagued her when she slept were a result of Cain’s misunderstanding- he thought her father, Owen, had taken advantage of her, forced himself on her, abused her. _He hadn’t._ He had never done anything she hadn’t wanted. She knew that Cain’s experience with the rape and death of his best friend’s sister had tainted his mind and tinted his view of the world, so she understood. She had differentiated the two images of her father in her mind. Her daddy, the one who loved her, and the one that she loved. And Owen, the one who hurt her in her dreams, the only one that Cain saw.

 

She hadn’t noticed- due to how wrapped up in her thoughts she was- but Cain had gone rigid with the mention of their mother. Now he had sat down in a chair in the room and was flipping through her offers, looking displeased.

 

“I don’t particularly like that you have to be in a completely different country either.” He said, gruffly, as if he didn’t really want to admit that fact.

 

Setsuka broke away from her thoughts and looked at him expectantly.

 

“I’ll think about it. Especially now that I’ve got all of these offers here.” He sighed and shuffled through his own papers, before setting them back down in a tired huff.

 

Setsuka couldn't help but smirk a little at the sight. He wasn't going to be openly excited about them but she could tell he was pleased. Accepting the role in the first place had been a monumental addition to his career and a large step out of his comfort zone. Now that all that effort was actually paying off she couldn't help but want to bask in the success for him.

 

A sudden wave of sleepiness hit her and she let out a large yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Her top slid further up revealing a few more inches of the creamy white skin underneath. Oblivious, Setsuka turned her attention back to Cain who been silent for a while only to find him already staring at her.

 

She smirked at the attention, and they held eye contact for a moment.

 

“We should get a drink to celebrate.”

 

Cain frowned. “What?”

 

Setsuka was grinning now. “A drink. You know, some alcohol to celebrate your success.” Cain’s frown quickly deepened into a scowl.

 

“You are way too young to be casually drinking alcohol.” Setsuka rolled her eyes.

 

“It’s not like it’s illegal. Or like I haven’t before. I just want to celebrate this with you…” She pouted.

 

Her eyes looked up at him through her lashes, lower lip jutting out slightly. It was a known weakness of his. And just as it had many times in the past, was a flawless way to get what she wanted.

 

Cain sighed, frustratedly running a hand through his hair.

 

“Fine. _One drink_.”

 

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Setsuka retorted with a wide smile on her face.

 

Cain narrowed his eyes at her. “And when we get back you’re going straight to bed. You need to get some rest.”

 

Setsu waved him off as she began reapplying some lipstick and straightening out her clothes.

 

“Yeah, yeah. I will.”

 

“I mean it.” Cain emphasized, tossing his coat her way. As if she was going to get away with wearing _that_ to a bar.

 

Setsu shrugged it on without complaint, it was pretty cold out at this time of night anyways. She took his hand in hers as they exited the hotel room.

 

“Let’s go celebrate Nii-san’s success!”

 

o///o

 

Cain was in a terrible mood. Worse than usual, that is. If _someone_ had told him in advance that the LME company wanted to meet with him as soon as possible as in **this morning at 8 o’clock** in the middle of Tokyo he would _not_ have agreed to go out drinking with his little sister last night and he _definitely_ not have returned to the hotel well past four in the morning.

 

He had only received the call from Director Konoe after both his and Setsuka’s phones had been ringing nonstop this morning and in a flash of rage he had picked up and was fully prepared to send the person calling to the 9th circle of Hell. Unfortunately, Director Konoe was a fast talker and managed to get out the important information that drew Cain’s attention before he could manage to do that.

 

He had hurriedly been told the address and on top of not knowing if it was correct or not he also had no idea how to get to it. He could have woken Setsu up but she really needed to rest especially after the several drinks she had had the previous night. The thought of her waking up with a hangover due to his inability to say no to her was pissing him off to an extreme level and so he had reluctantly let her sleep, leaving a note for her about his whereabouts in the kitchen.

 

Now, hours later and well past the original meeting time he was waiting on a bench near a weird statue at Shibuya station for some member of the company to come and collect him. He had been waiting so long he was seriously beginning to doubt that he had the right location and the constant stares and whispers of people walking past him was doing absolutely nothing to help his ruined mood.

 

He honestly didn’t even know who was supposed to be collecting him. They had mentioned a girl but if he had gotten some description maybe he would have recognized her if she had passed by him already. He let out a frustrated sigh and dug into his pocket for a mangled pack of cigarettes. Setsu had curbed his smoking habits quite a bit in the last few years, she hadn’t liked when he smoked in the first place- constantly lecturing him about how unhealthy it was. But after they had left whenever he smoked in front of her she begged him to have a drag until eventually he had just given her one for herself. Though, ironically, he hated to encourage her in his own bad and unhealthy habits and tried to stop smoking in front of her completely. But at times like these, when he was alone and agitated, he couldn’t resist the sweet lure of nicotine.

 

He stuck one into his mouth and dug around in his coat pockets some more for a lighter, producing the one that Setsu had bought for him a few months ago with the queen of hearts on it. It had been a present for him finishing filming and as he shook it he realized it was nearly empty. His scowl deepened even further and he lit the cigarette hanging on his lips, shoving the lighter back into his pocket.

 

o///o

 

Setsu was alone when she awoke in the morning. She had a headache that was bordering on being a migraine. And why shouldn’t she? She had way more than a single drink last night and only fell asleep due to extreme exhaustion at five in the morning.

 

She reached over and picked up her phone, which was blinking angrily with missed calls. She looked at the time- 13:38pm. She had only slept for six hours. Great.

 

Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she opened her missed calls wondering if her Nii-san had been trying to reach her. Instead she saw Konoe’s name multiple times along with a few other numbers she didn’t recognize. Frowning, she clutched her phone in her hand as she crawled out of bed.

 

A wave of dizziness hit her as she stood up and she stayed perfectly still for a moment to let her head adjust. Once the room stopped spinning she walked on heavy feet into the kitchen, hoping to find something to eat to soothe her rumbling stomach but her eyes were drawn to a piece of paper sitting on the counter.

 

Curious she picked it up, immediately recognizing her brother’s handwriting.

 

**_Morning._ **

 

**_If you have a headache there's some pain medication over by the nightstand._ **

 

**_I got called in to a meeting with the LME acting department, they want to represent me._ **

 

**_Call you when I get out._ **

 

**_-Cain_ **

 

So that's where he ran off to. Setsu set the note back down and dug around in the refrigerator until she found some leftovers from a few nights before and deemed it edible enough to eat.

 

She fished a fork out of a drawer and ate for a few minutes before turning her attention to her phone.

 

As she picked it up it buzzed with a message, startling her.

 

A text from one of her classmates wondering where she's been.

 

She scowled. It had been at least a week since she'd last been to school and sooner or later Cain was likely going to send her back. Which meant she was going to need to hurry up convincing him that she should go to school here.

 

She closed out of the message and began a call to Konoe. Even if Cain wasn't thrilled about her doing it she was actually looking forward to trying out acting. If it was something she liked, her and Cain would have more common ground to work off of and she wouldn't have to keep sitting on the sidelines as she watched him climb up the metaphorical ladder of his career. But the view was great. It was _so_ great. But for once she just wanted to be on equal ground with him and not worry about him slowly slipping out of her grasp again.

 

“Setsuka-chan?” The expectant voice coming from the phone caught her attention, bringing her out of her thoughts.

 

“What do you want?” She couldn't help the slight irritation that seeped into her voice. She really wasn't a fan of talking to people right after she woke up. Unless it was her brother of course.

 

Konoe seemed slightly taken aback by her brusqueness but continued nonetheless. “Uh… yes, well, good afternoon. Apologies for bothering the two of you so much this morning. But I can't get into contact with your brother and I… fear what will happen to me if I bother him again.” Setsu almost laughed at the genuine fear in his voice. Her nii-san wasn't a morning person as it was, she could only imagine how irritated he had been when he was forced to get out of bed so early in the morning.

 

“I also apologize that I'm the one that has to keep calling the two of you about these matters. Hopefully Heel-san gets a contract with LME today and they can assign someone to represent both of you.”

 

Setsuka nibbled on her food some more, barely listening to Konoe’s rambling. He had yet to get to the point and that was beginning to get on her nerves.

 

“In any event, one of the artists I mentioned that was interested in you being in their music video has just informed me that they are on a very tight schedule and are only going to be in Japan until tomorrow evening.”

 

“So, they were asking if it would be alright to meet with you today? I know it's sudden but I can't really help these things or negotiate because, again, I'm not representing you and I am not part of an agency. But I really think this is a great opportunity and it would be a shame if you were to miss it.”

 

She sighed. Cain had said that he'd think about her living here with him but he hadn't said anything else about the acting jobs. But… she didn't have to say yes right away. She just had to meet with them. What was the harm in that?

 

“When did they want to meet with me?” She asked, fiddling around with her lip ring nervously.

 

“They said that 3pm today would be ideal.”

 

Setsuka rose from her chair, bringing the now empty container over to the sink.

 

“Okay.”

 

Konoe paused, confused by her vague answer.

 

“Does that work for you? Should I tell them you'll be there?”

 

“... Yes. I'll be there.” She just hoped Cain wouldn't be too upset with her for going without telling him.

 

“Excellent! So for convenience, they'd like you to meet them at their agency Akatoki. I can give you the directions if you’d like.”

 

“Not necessary.” She replied coldly, dreading talking to this man for another moment.  “Who is it that I’m going to meet?”

 

“That would be Sho Fuwa. Very popular. I believe he’s preparing for a tour right now.”

 

“Sho Fuwa.” She echoed.

 

Somehow the name tasted bitter on her tongue.

 

o///o

 

The majority of Cain’s cigarettes lay on the ground beneath him, crunched and squashed. He brutally grinded the cigarette in his mouth with his teeth, spitting it down at the ground and then crushing it belligerently with his boot, adding to the pile. The terrified civilians around him were keeping extra distance from him but he could still feel their gazes on him igniting his anger even further.

 

2 hours. He had been sitting here for _two hours_. He had tried to call Konoe to ask him what the hell the holdup was but his calls had been going straight to voicemail. Which only pissed him off further. He had crunched his cigarette a little after an hour of waiting, completely on accident, when he had been unconsciously clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth to alleviate some of the pent up aggression rising up inside of him. Now he had gone through most of the pack and if he ran out he didn’t know what would happen and he really wasn’t looking to get arrested. Setsu needed him.

 

Out of the corner of his eye a shade of pink infuriatingly bright and eye-catching kept flashing in and out of his vision. Currently that was annoying him the most. Japanese people dressed relatively modestly so who the fuck was walking around in bright ass pink?

 

After a moment of seeing the flashing color he could clearly see it, and whoever was wearing it, a good distance away and getting closer. He crunched the cigarette violently, spitting it to the ground and throwing all his weight into stomping it out to discourage whoever it was trying to approach him.

 

The movement stopped and, satisfied, Cain pulled out the last remaining cigarette, sticking it between his lips and crushing the package in his hand as he put it back into his pocket. His fished out the lighter again and had to vigorously flick the switch until it sputtered and shot out a small flame just enough to light the cigarette up. Fresh annoyance flashed through him now that it was empty and he stuck it back into his pocket defeatedly.

Although, much to his immediate annoyance, the figure in the agonizingly bright pink had started to approach him again. Cain kept his glare to the ground as they came to a stop right beside him. He glanced upwards, expressing his disdain freely in his facial expression, and was suddenly looking into the shocked face of a short haired brunette girl.

 

“Ts…Tsuru...ga?” She nearly whispered, not an ounce of anything but stupefied wonder in her eyes.

 

Cain could hear people around them begin to murmur anxiously.

 

“Tsuruga-san… it’s you isn’t it?” The girl asked, leaning in closer. She was speaking Japanese but he could still understand what she was saying since it was spoken so formally. Cain narrowed his eyes at her, and she pulled back in surprise. Her expression quickly morphing from surprise to stunned horror as she slowly backed away. He didn’t know who this _Tsuruga-san_ was but she seemed to realize that she had mistaken him for someone else.

 

Just looking at her in all that blinding pink irked his nerves even more and he couldn’t help but crunch down on the cigarette in his mouth, spitting it out towards her feet and then squashing it under his boot with his violent glare trained on her.

 

He stood then, completely fed up with all of this waiting, swaying intimidatingly close to her as a final warning. She lost her balance then, staring up at him in complete and utter fear and a surge of adrenaline coursed through his blood at the thrill of knowing he caused that. He lifted a foot as if he was going to step on her, and had a half a mind to do so, but she cowered and shielded her head as if believing he was actually going to do it. He fought off the rush that gave him, not having seen anyone tremble in complete fear of him in so long, and simply stepped over her. He was going to stop to get something to eat and then head home. These people had wasted enough of his time.

 

Besides he had run out of cigarettes and lighter fluid. He wasn’t sure what he would do if he suffered anymore annoyances.

  
  
  


He had been walking for a good twenty minutes before he heard dashing footsteps behind him, sounding like someone was running for their very life. He turned, grimaced when he saw the ball of pink hurtling towards him and stopped in his place. The girl skidded to a stop in front of him and doubled over as she attempted to catch her breath.

 

“What the hell do you want?” He snapped, not even bothering to attempt to speak in Japanese. His patience had long been tossed out of the window.

 

Her head snapped up at his voice and she had that shocked look on her face again.

 

“Are…” She began in English, stopping only to catch her breath. “Are you by any chance Mr. Cain Heel?” Cain was taken aback by her fluency in English, and lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

 

“Yes. Why?”

 

She looked relieved for an instant and then vigorously lifted her torso up and then down repeatedly, bowing in that respectful way people here tended to do.

 

“I am so sorry! For my tardiness especially! The president didn’t tell me that he changed the location I was picking you up from- oh but of course, a president’s fault is also his subordinate’s fault so I am very truly sorry! And then I thought you were a coworker of mine because you look so much like him! Your measurements are almost exactly the same! You’re physically the same person! But of course you aren’t Tsuruga-san that was stupid of me, he’s much more…” She trailed off as she caught the look on Cain’s face and straightened.

 

“My deepest apologies. I’m Kyoko Mogami from the Talent Agency at LME. I’ve been sent to get you. And please pardon my offensive attire, I’m also part of the LoveMe program which requires us to wear these ridiculous outfits.”

 

Cain felt the glare leave his face without his permission. Something about this girl, _Kyoko_ , reminded him of Setsu when she was younger making his heart swell with nostalgia.

 

He sighed, rolling his eyes. She had been late but at least she had come and even chased him down after he left. He had give her _some_ credit.

 

But what the hell was the _LoveMe_ program and who on Earth was cruel enough to make her wear such a visually irritating outfit?

 

“Let’s get going. Enough time has been wasted.” He growled out.

 

Kyoko bowed a few more times and then began walking back in the direction they had just come from.

 

o///o

 

Apparently Japanese people in show business didn't know the definition of _modest_.

 

When Kyoko had led him to the office of the LME president, of course only after they had run into some friend of hers in the lobby donning the same ridiculous outfit and she had gone completely frantic yelling something about “Moko-san” - _he would need to ask Setsu what the hell that meant_ \- and then rambled on and on about her, a rush of women dressed in gold dresses with heavy eyeliner had strutted in, posing in various places in the room followed by bronze colored men wearing nothing but cloths around their waists holding a sphinx statue over their heads with a man perching on it.

 

The dramatic music that had begun when they entered slowly faded out as the men lowered the statue and the lost pharaoh of Egypt down to the ground.

 

The man stepped off the sphinx, raised his hands high above his head and announced himself to be Lory Takarada, president of LME.

 

Cain was almost impressed.

 

Almost.

 

Now that the theatrics had calmed down and most of the extras had slinked out of the room save for one man that stayed stationed at the door now it was just the president, Kyoko, and himself.

 

“I don't speak English very well so Kyoko-chan here will be translating for me.” The president announced.

 

Kyoko looked between them nervously, obviously still unsettled with his presence.

 

Cain was glad for the translation though, his head was beginning to hurt from trying to understand what everyone was saying around him all the time. Normally it wouldn't be that much of a problem he hardly listened unless he was being directly spoken to but he was exhausted and couldn’t focus well enough.

 

“To begin with, I'm very happy that you decided to meet with us today.” Kyoko echoed in english at Lory's nod towards her.

 

“You were absolutely spectacular in the role of B.J in Tragic Marker. For a character that didn't talk at all I was very impressed by how you handled the character. Of course I also heard there was a bit of an issue on set with one of your co-workers but sometimes actors stay in character even when not filming. The final result was amazing and that's all that matters at the end of the day.”

 

“We would like to extend an open contract with you, which would mean that we would allow you to also be contracted to an agency in an English speaking country. We would supply you with a manager as I'm sure you've gotten tons of offers by now and we'd even like to extend an offer to you right away.”

 

“A good friend of mine. A director named Hiroaki Ogata made a name for himself by reimagining the popular drama Tsukigomori into Dark Moon.” Kyoko looked vaguely surprised by the mention of it which Lory noticed.

 

He grinned at her. “A production that our wonderful Kyoko herself starred in.” He said himself. Kyoko blushed lightly and smiled seemingly despite herself.

 

“Anyways, Ogata-san is working on a remake of another movie called My Shadow. It's about a man who is being stalked by his look alike and he must face the identity crisis when his evil double begins to take over his life. Ren Tsuruga has already accepted the role of the main character and Ogata-san has been scrambling to find an actor that even looks remotely similar to him. Height being the main issue there.”

 

Tsuruga. Cain noticed the name sounded familiar. It was what Kyoko had called him when they initially met.

 

“Kyoko, what do you think?”

 

The brunette looked analytically at Cain once again and nodded.

 

“Almost the same exact measurements. His posture is completely different though and he’s just slightly taller. But he could be Tsuruga-san’s twin no doubt about that.”

 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I thought. There couldn’t be a better fit for the role.” Lory agreed, then turned his attention back to Cain.

 

“How good is your Japanese?”

 

He grimaced. “I can understand it better than I’ll ever hope to speak it.”

 

Lory leaned back in his chair and grasped his chin in thought. “Have you had many roles that required you to speak?”

 

Cain shrugged. “Not really.”

 

“Hmm, well you can look at the script and see if you feel like you can do it. In the meantime, are you thinking that you’d like to sign with us today?”

 

He had wasted way too much time today to _not_ at least get something out of it. Plus Setsu would be happy if it also came with a big role with whoever this… Tsuruga guy was.

 

“Yes. I am.”

 

o///o

 

Several hours later, Cain was walking out of the LME office with an acting contract, first choice in a very big role, and promises of a manager whenever they figured out who would be suited to him, namely a translator.

 

He was feeling particularly pleased with himself at that accomplishment and couldn’t wait to share the news with Setsu. He slipped his phone out of his pocket, clicking into her contact and held the phone up to his ear as it began to ring.

 

… and ring.

 

… _and ring._

 

“Hi this is Setsuka Heel, if I didn’t answer you I probably don’t care so please don’t call back!”

 

Cain frowned as the cheery voice of her voicemail spoke into his ear. He didn’t bother leaving a message, if she saw that it was him she’d call back as soon as she saw it.

 

She couldn’t still be sleeping, right? Cain checked the time. _15:57._ Surely she couldn’t have slept for ten hours.

 

But she _was_ really tired…

 

Frustrated, he sent her a text message instead.

 

**Out of my meeting. Went well. Are you still sleeping?**

 

He waited for a moment, just about to give up and put his phone away when it buzzed with a response.

 

_Not at home! Dont b mad, I went to c abt one of my offers. Hes a prick tho. Gonna leave soon <3 _

 

_Nii-san?_

 

_Don’t be mad ok?_

 

_ <3 _

 

Cain blinked down at his screen. Once. Twice. Read over the messages again in case he had read incorrectly.

 

**Who**

 

_Don’t b mad!!! Sho Fuwa. He’s a dick tho, srsly I’m leaving now !_

 

He shouldn’t be mad. There was no reason for him to be. She was allowed to find her own path, to do what she wanted. He should be letting her. _God,_ he should let her do whatever she wanted for the rest of her life because he knew what she had been through, what he himself had caused. How broken she was. But he _was_ mad. _Livid_. And the most confusing thing was that he wasn’t sure if he was mad at her for not discussing this with him first, or at himself for actually feeling a surge of jealousy.

  
  
What was there to even be jealous about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took SO much longer than it should have, sorry about that. Hopefully updates will be a little more frequent now that things have calmed down. Thank you all so incredibly much for the support on the first chapter it's crazy! Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much! Cain acting with Ren!? Setsu meeting Sho?! Kyoko meeting Cain in a way that's very similar to the manga (ch. 152-153)?! I'm so excited for the rest of this story! Hope you guys are too! See you all again soon, hopefully!


	3. Chapter 3

The Akatoki building was a short drive away from Cain's hotel, and Setsuka managed to get there by calling up a cab service, arriving just a little after three. 

 

She had dressed up more casually than she would have normally, mostly due to the way her head was still throbbing pointedly. Although casual just meant that she had worn pants instead of a skirt and they still fit her just as tightly. 

 

She felt more than saw the eyes on her as soon as she entered the busy building, and if that caused her to sway her hips a bit more she wouldn't deny it. She liked the attention. 

 

She paused at the entrance, hip cocked, surveying the room. The few people who were staring blatantly at her were easy enough to spot and she made eye contact with them just to see the flustered hue of their faces as they quickly turned away. 

 

Annoyance rose when she realized she hadn't really been given any instruction for when she actually got here. And with a frustrated sigh she also realized she had already forgotten the name of whoever she was supposed to be meeting. 

 

Japanese names were weird and impossible for her to remember unless she saw them spelled out with furigana or given the pronunciation from the person themselves. 

 

Pursing her lips in annoyance, she decided to just tell the secretary at the front desk who was making an obvious effort to not look her direction that she had an appointment with some kei singer. If he was half as popular as everyone was making him out to be,  _ someone _ should know who she was talking about from just that description. 

 

But just as she took a step forward, she saw a pair of people walk out from the interior of the building. 

 

The woman was curvy for an asian and the blonde male she was walking with seemed to appreciate that fact judging by the totally indiscreet way he slapped her ass. .

The woman simply rolled her eyes and looked down at the clipboard in her hands, looking up after a moment and surveying the room. 

 

Her eyes met Setsuka’s after a moment and her face lit up in recognition. She said something to the guy she was walking with and his face screwed up with distaste. 

 

The woman with him frowned and pointed with a pen in Setsuka's direction. The blonde followed the tip of the pen and Setsuka could almost pinpoint the second he saw her. He went still, mouth falling open slowly as he looked her up and down. 

 

The woman with him pulled his arm, dragging him over to where Setsuka stood. She simply waited for them to reach her, watching as the blonde ran a hand through his hair and his entire attitude turned arrogant, complete with a smug smirk she would take personal care to wipe away. 

 

As they came to a stop in front of her the brunette woman bowed slightly. 

 

“Are you Ms. Heel?” She asked hesitantly, taking care to speak in English. 

 

“English isn't necessary.” Setsu responded flippantly. “But yes, I am Setsuka Heel.” 

 

“Oh, that makes things easier. I'm afraid my English isn't very good.” The woman attempted to joke but at Setsuka's uninterested facial expression she cleared her throat uncomfortably. 

 

“Well then, I am Shoko Aki. Nice to meet you, Heel-chan. I'm the one who contacted Mr. Konoe about you after seeing the interview you did with your… brother was it?” 

 

She couldn't help the smirk that appeared on her face even if she tried. The man this woman was with almost seemed nervous to look at her but at the mention of her brother he was suddenly much more interested. 

 

“Yes, he's my brother.”

 

“Oh.” Shoko responded softly and the three lapsed into a terse silence. 

 

Setsuka felt that these were probably the people she was supposed to be meeting but something about this blonde had been rubbing her the wrong way; ever since she heard his name… that she had forgotten. 

 

She put an expectant look on her face and directed it at him. 

 

He stared back at her for a moment seemingly waiting for something and then seeming confused when he got nothing. 

 

“Do you not know who I am?” He asked suddenly, an underlying sense of shock causing Setsuka to cock her head in annoyance. Shoko not so discreetly nudged him with her foot- an obvious warning. 

 

“No. Why should I?” She retorted, crossing her arms. 

 

The confusion on his face almost made her laugh out loud. 

 

“Because I'm one of the most popular artists on the radio right now? Because you came here specifically to meet with me about my music video?” 

 

Shoko nudged him a little harder now, giving him a very pointed glare she didn't even bother trying to hide. 

 

Setsuka couldn't stop her eyes from rolling her eyes. “I don't know who you are other than the fact that you're a kei artist. This is usually the point where someone introduces themselves, but I think I'm learning a lot about you just by talking to you right now.”

 

He scoffed and now he was crossing his own arms, mirroring her stance. “Oh, but let me guess, you know who Tsuruga Ren is.” 

 

Setsuka raised an eyebrow. “I've heard of him.” 

 

The blonde’s face turned stony and he threw up his hands exasperatedly. 

 

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!” He cried, directing it to nobody in particular. “I’m more popular than that old geezer! He’s got such a bad personality no wonder he’s been a bachelor forever! Nobody wants to date him! He probably scares people away with that gross smile of his! Just what the hell does he have that I don’t?!” 

 

Setsuka could feel the stares of everyone in the room on them and almost wanted to laugh from the truly pitiable temper tantrum this guy was throwing. She didn’t really understand what he had against Tsuruga Ren but they had obviously crossed paths before. 

 

Shoko looked around, noticing all the eyes on them. She gripped the blonde’s shoulder and forcefully turned him around.

 

“Okay, okay. That’s enough. Let’s get into the office.” He was still grumbling when she started pushing him in the direction of the door they had come through a few minutes ago. 

 

Setsuka watched them go with an amused smirk. Shoko noticed that she wasn’t following them after a moment and turned to her with a pleading look. 

 

“If you’ll come with us, please?” 

 

Setsuka shrugged and walked after them. She almost felt bad for Shoko, it seemed like she had to deal with a lot. 

 

This was going to be an interesting day for sure. 

 

o///o

 

They filed into a small conference room setup with a large wooden table and a water dispenser in the corner. It even had a potted plant for good measure. 

 

The blonde, yes she  _ still _ didn’t know his name, violently pulled out a chair and slumped down into it. The sullen, grumpy way he slouched in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest almost reminded her of her nii-san. She felt guilty for the comparison though, her nii-san was nothing like this asshole. 

 

Shoko sighed at her charge’s behavior and took a seat herself. She gestured for Setsuka to do the same. 

 

“We, unfortunately, were forced to give the director very little notice about this meeting so he’ll hopefully be showing up a bit late, if at all.” She glanced at the clock in the room. “Haruki Asami should be here soon, she’s the producer and she’ll explain the details.” 

 

Setsu had taken a seat and her eyes had wandered over to the blonde who was still sulking. Shoko noticed and sighed. 

 

“I apologize for his behavior. Please allow me to introduce the two of you. This is Sho Fuwa,  _ Sho _ this is Setsuka Heel. Her brother was in that thriller movie that recently came out,  _ Tragic Marker _ .” 

 

The blonde,  _ Sho _ , now that she finally knew his name made a noncommittal grunt and shifted even further into his chair. 

 

“You know which movie I’m talking about.” Shoko insisted. 

“Yeah… I do.” Sho finally responded, voice as stony as his expression. “But the lead actor weirdly reminded me of Tsuruga Ren so I didn’t watch it.” 

 

Setsu raised an eyebrow at that. She had heard the name Tsuruga Ren frequently as she kept up with Japanese celebrities, well Cain specifically, and as far as she was concerned Tsuruga Ren was her brother’s strongest rival. And now they looked alike? Strange. Thinking back, she couldn’t remember what he looked like. It hadn’t mattered before and to be honest it barely mattered now. Her sole focus was and  _ is _ her nii-san. 

 

The blonde noticed the change in her facial expression and narrowed his eyes. 

 

“That guy is your brother?” He asked, sounding unimpressed. 

 

“Shou-” Shoko tried to intervene but Setsuka wanted to hear what he had to say. She wanted to know if he had the guts to insult her precious nii-san in front of her. 

 

“Yes.” She interrupted, raising her eyebrows at him and daring him to say more. 

 

He was silent for a moment and Shoko looked between the two nervously. 

 

“...Is he trying to be Tsuruga Ren, or something? Is he a big fan? I bet he's really popular in America. I'm sure all your friends squeal when you see  _ Tsuruga Ren _ on tv.” 

 

Setsuka tried, she really tried to contain the burst of laughter that surged forth but looking at the blonde's serious face as he said something so fucking ridiculous was honestly too much.

 

Once she caught her breath and wiped a tear from her eye she realized that both Shou and Shoko were looking at her in stunned confusion.

 

“First of all, we're not American. We're from the U.K. Second, my brother isn't trying to  _ be _ anyone and he doesn't know the slightest thing about Japanese pop culture. I know Tsuruga Ren because he's my brother's strongest competition. And that's honestly an exaggeration because, as I said, I seriously doubt he even knows Tsuruga Ren exists.” 

 

“If we're talking about fans here, the only  _ fan _ of Tsuruga Ren that I see is  _ you _ .” Shou opened his mouth but she continued before he could get a word in. “Anyone who obsesses over the success of someone else as much as you obviously do might be an even bigger fan than his preteen fangirls.” She blew a bubble with the gum in her mouth, popping it punctually. 

 

Shou stood up from his chair suddenly, sending it flying backwards and Shoko stood up as well just about to put him back in his seat when the door opened. 

 

An older woman with light brown hair pulled into a ponytail and thin rimmed glasses poked her head into the room, looking troubled by what she saw. 

 

“Oh? What's going on here? Why is everyone standing?” 

 

o///o

 

Things settled down once the producer, Haruki Asami, entered the room. Shoko seemed to appreciate her presence, mostly because it was two older woman against the very, very childish blonde. 

 

Shou wouldn't look at any of them and didn't speak even when asked a question so Setsuka appreciated being able to talk to the two women in relative peace. 

 

“So,” Asami was saying. “The theme that we're going with for the music video is of two angels who are close friends. One of them falls in love with a demon- which is Shou’s character. And that angel’s friend then realizes the danger she's in being with a demon and takes it upon herself to kill the demon and save her friend.” 

 

Setsuka was following along well enough but she swore she heard her phone vibrate a few seconds ago. She was trying not to he rude but Asami seemed very passionate about the subject and it didn't seem like she was going to stop anytime soon. 

 

She pulled her phone out of her purse and snuck a glance at the screen. 

 

**_One missed call._ **

 

**_New text message from: Nii-san <3 _ **

 

Her heart dropped into her stomach. She had somehow completely forgotten that she hadn’t told Cain she had gone to this meeting and it had slipped her mind that he might get out of his meeting before she got out of hers. 

 

“Um, can you excuse me for one moment? I've got an urgent message.” She said suddenly, already opening the text. 

 

“Oh, by all means. I was rambling anyways. Let me call the director and see if he can make it here in the next few minutes, excuse me.” Asami said, excusing herself. 

 

Setsuka was barely even listening. She looked at the missed call, and like she expected it was from Cain. 

 

She clicked back over to the text messages. 

 

**Out of my meeting. Went well. Are you still sleeping?**

 

Setsuka bit her lip as she typed out her response. 

 

_ Not at home! Dont b mad, I went to c abt one of my offers. Hes a prick tho. Gonna leave soon <3 _

 

She tapped her foot nervously underneath her as she waited for his response. The little sign had said he read it but he was taking a long time to respond. She really hoped he wasn’t mad at her, it always made her feel disappointed in herself. 

 

_ Nii-san? _

 

_ Don’t be mad ok? _

 

_ <3 _

 

She couldn’t help but nervously type out more messages when another minute passed by and he hadn’t responded. Maybe he was simply walking and couldn’t look at his phone. Maybe-

 

Her phone buzzed with a response. 

 

**Who**

 

He was angry. 

 

She worried her lip ring between her teeth, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid for going to this awful meeting. She didn’t really care what the plot of the music video even was- there was no way she was ever going to work with such a twat. 

 

“Who are you texting?” A gruff voice suddenly spoke, startling her. She looked up and found that Shou was staring at her with that same stony expression on his face. 

 

“It’s none of your business,” She replied flippantly, already composing her next message. 

 

“Let me guess, your precious brother? Or is it Tsuruga Ren? Or is there a third in the mix? The possibilities are endless.” He smirked at her and she had to seriously resist kicking him in the face but she did turn her attention away from her phone to glare at him fiercely across the table. 

 

“I  _ said _ it’s none of your business. But if you’re really wondering- no it’s not you. And if you were stupid enough to give me your number I’d find a nice hungry loan shark to give it to. Or better yet, maybe one of your many adoring fans would want it. I could probably make some nice money off selling it.” She stood up then, quickly finishing her text message and slipping her phone back into her purse. 

 

_ Don’t be mad!!! Sho Fuwa. He’s a dick tho, srsly I’m leaving now ! _

 

“Shoko-san, I’m sorry. I don’t think this is going to work out. It was a pleasure meeting you, though. Thank you for the opportunity.” She said, bowing slightly.

 

Poor Shoko looked exhausted but nodded in understanding. Setsuka vaguely wondered if they paid her enough. 

 

On the way out she gave a similar apology to Haruki Asami, who simply smiled and wished her good luck. It seemed like both women were fairly used to Shou’s horrible personality. 

 

Cain still hadn’t responded to her last message when she finally got outside the building. 

 

o///o

 

It was early into the evening when the door to Cain’s hotel room clicked open and his little sister made her way inside. 

 

A whole hour and a half had passed since she had texted him to tell him she was leaving her meeting. He had been seriously considering going out to search for her as he paced back and forth nervously. And if it wasn't for how angry he felt he would have run over to hug her. Instead he merely stopped his pacing and stood facing her with his arms crossed. 

 

Setsuka glanced at him but took the time to put her things away, plug the charger into her phone, walk past him to get a glass of water and then finally took a seat at their little dining table. 

 

Cain had kept her in his eyesight the entire time, turning with her as she walked around him. 

 

“You said you were leaving over an hour ago.” He stated, barely keeping the anger out of his voice. 

 

He had been angry ever since she had told him what she was doing and that she was with some kei singer. He had no idea what that meant at first but after looking it up, they seemed like the type that would be used to flirting with everyone and getting what they wanted. And if this  _ Shou Fuwa _ wanted his sister they were going to have a problem. 

 

“There was traffic. It's about the time everyone gets off work.” Setsu sighed. 

 

“Why did you go to the meeting?” Cain asked, since he was completely bewildered about it. 

 

“I just wanted to see if I like acting. I don't know what I want to do when I finish school, Nii-san. I don't know what I like.” She sighed, finally looking up at making eye contact with him. “I just want to figure it out.” 

 

His heart strings pulled in his chest at the look on her face. It was why he always had so much trouble staying angry with her, she would look at him like a kicked puppy and all of his resolve would melt away. 

 

“You have to  _ finish  _ school first.” He said, using a much softer tone than he used before. 

 

“I know. That's why I was interested in the music video. It would be done faster.” She paused and he already knew what was coming next. “If you let me go to school  _ here _ … then it wouldn't matter as much.” 

 

Cain sighed, rubbing his hand across his face. Setsu going to school here meant that she would be living with him full time again and as much as he liked the idea he didn't really think it was a good one. 

 

“I'll think about it.” As if he hadn't thought about it every second of every minute since she brought it up. “But you only have a little time left anyways. Just finish there and then we can talk about what to do next.” Besides he had friends there that kept an eye on her, but he really didn't think she would appreciate that if she knew. 

 

Setsuka pouted at that but after a moment she stood and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. 

 

“I hate when you're mad at me.” She whined, the sound muffled by his shirt. 

 

He wrapped his own arms around her, pulling her closer. 

 

“I do too.” He mumbled into her hair. 

 

After a moment Setsu looked up at him, balancing on her toes. 

 

“Kiss and make up?” She asked, pursing her lips comically. 

 

He couldn't have resisted if he tried. He leaned down to meet her halfway, keenly aware of how small she was in comparison to him. Their lips met, fitting together in that perfect way that was so familiar to them. 

 

When Setsuka began pulling away from him it took all of his self-control to not pull her back to him immediately, an issue that had been plaguing him for a long while now. He tried not to think about it too deeply. 

 

Setsu moved to sit on the bed, and Cain tried to ignore the strip of milky white skin that showed as she sat down as he moved to lay down next to her. 

 

“So, how was your meeting?” She asked, cuddling against him when he lay flat on his back. 

 

“It went well. I'm now signed with LME. They're working on getting me a manager and they already have an offer for a movie lined up for me. I might have to brush up on my Japanese, though.” 

 

Setsuka’s eyes went wide with surprise as she looked up at him. “Really? Wow! I'll help you with it, just like last time. What's the movie about?” 

 

“It’s about a man who has a doppelganger and that doppelganger begins to take over his life. I'm going to be playing the evil doppelganger.” 

 

Setsuka frowned at him. 

 

“What is it?” 

 

“Is… the other actor Tsuruga Ren?” Now Cain was frowning at her. 

 

“How did you know that?” 

 

Setsuka seemed surprised. “At the meeting today Shou kept talking about a Tsuruga Ren. He said the two of you look alike.” 

 

Cain tensed at the mention of Shou Fuwa. He had almost forgotten about him completely. 

 

Setsuka realized her mistake immediately. “Stop it. He's an asshole, I'm not taking the offer with him. And before you ask,  _ no _ he didn't hit on me. He just ranted about Tsuruga Ren the entire time and insulted you.” 

 

Cain relaxed a little. 

 

“The translator I talked to at LME actually mistook me for Tsuruga Ren when we met.” 

 

Setsuka made a hummed at that and reached for her phone. 

 

“I can't remember if I've ever seen him before. Let me look up a picture.” Cain waited as she typed in her phone and watched the shock register on her face when the picture pulled up. She swiped a few times on the phone and brought it close to her face to see better. 

 

“Let me see.” Cain laughed, pulling her phone out of her hand. 

 

The picture on the screen was from a photoshoot or something and the man in the picture was dressed in a snazzy suit but there was no mistaking it. 

 

They looked almost exactly alike.

 

So similar that Cain almost thought he was looking at a picture of himself. 

 

“That's so scary.” Setsuka muttered, grabbing the phone back and holding it up beside Cain's face. 

 

She swiped a few times until she was satisfied with a different picture. 

 

“Smile for me.” 

 

“Setsu…” He hadn't smiled properly since he was a teenager. Doing it felt strange on his face. 

 

“Smile.” She insisted. He managed a smirk. 

 

Setsu rolled her eyes, crawling onto him until she was straddling his waist. He would never admit how fast his heart beat when she did stuff like this.  

 

“ _ Smile _ .” She demanded. 

 

He complied finally, wary of what she would do if he didn't. 

 

“Wow.” She whispered, steely eyes flitting back and forth between his and the picture of Tsuruga Ren. 

 

“That's amazing casting.” She said, rolling off him until she was pressed into his side again. 

 

It had begun to rain outside and they lapsed into a comfortable silence as they both listened to the pitter patter of raindrops against the window. 

 

“I'm going to the other meeting.” Setsu spoke after a long moment. 

 

Cain barely resisted the urge to immediately say no. 

 

“Why?” 

 

“I told you already, I want to know if I like acting or not. If this one doesn't work out either then I'll just forget about it. But I have to at least see.” 

 

Cain merely grunted. 

 

“Why does it bother you so much?” She asked, running a nail back and forth across his stomach. 

 

Several reasons popped into his head but none that he could actually say out loud. He wanted to monopolize her and wanted her to monopolize him and the idea that she wouldn't anymore twisted up his insides with an even stronger need to monopolize her. 

 

“Who's the meeting with?” He asked instead. 

 

“It's with this group called Vie Ghoul.” 

 

He could feel his earlier anger returning. 

 

“A group? Show them to me.” 

 

“Nii-san…” Setsu whined. 

 

“ _ Setsuka _ .” He snapped. 

 

Setsu sighed and reached for her phone again, typing in something quickly and then handing him the phone. 

 

He looked over the pictures, swiping through them until he had seen enough. 

 

“Absolutely not.” He cut, handing the phone back to her. 

 

“Nii-san!” 

 

“ _ Five men _ in a group like that? No. Absolutely not.” 

 

“It's not like I'm going to their hotel room or anything. We aren't going to be alone together. Please, this is the last offer I can take. I really want this to work out.” 

 

Cain was silent for a long moment. At this point he was starting to wish that Shou Fuwa would have worked out. 

 

“Fine.” He acquiesced. 

 

Setsuka gasped and threw her arms around him. 

 

“Yay! Thank you!” 

 

“But-  _ But _ I'm going with you.” He stated firmly. 

 

“What? No. You don't need to.” Setsuka replied immediately, frowning. 

 

“I come with you or you're not going.” Cain snapped. 

 

“I don't want you to scare them.” Setsu pouted. 

 

“Well I  _ do _ .” Cain rebutted. “I want to make sure they know not to try anything with you.” 

 

Setsu sighed. “Fine. But seriously don't overdo it. I don't want them thinking my brother is a crazy person and think better of working with me.” 

 

“That's exactly what I want them to think but I won't mess anything up for you. I swear.” 

 

Setsu rested her head on his chest and he softly ran a hand through her blonde hair. 

 

“You're such a little kid sometimes, you know that?” 

 

Cain breathed out a laugh. 

 

“My cute older brother.” Setsu giggled.  “Nobody would believe me if I told them.” 

 

They laid like that for a while longer, nodding off to the sound of the rain and the warmth of each other's bodies. 

 

Suddenly Cain's phone rang loudly with a notification. 

 

Setsu stirred but Cain made no move to check it. 

 

“What was that?” She mumbled sleepily. 

 

“I think it was an email. Don't mind it, I'll check it later. Go back to sleep.” 

 

But Setsu was already getting up, they were still completely dressed after all. 

 

“Check it. It could be a work email.” She said, pulling her top over her head and walking over to her suitcase for her pajamas. 

 

She must have felt Cain's stare on her because she turned around with a smirk. 

 

“ _ Check your phone _ .” She repeated, digging into the suitcase. 

 

Cain cleared his throat and tore his eyes away from her, reaching into his pocket for his phone. 

 

He unlocked it and went into his emails, breath catching in his throat when he saw who it was from. He hazarded a glance over to Setsu again but she was tugging her pants down with her back to him. 

 

He opened the email and read over it quickly. 

 

“Who’s it from?” Setsu asked, fully changed now. She was wiping off her face with a cloth, taking the remnants of her makeup off as she climbed into the bed. 

 

Cain scanned the message again before quickly slipping his phone back into his pocket. 

 

“No idea, it's spam or something.” He replied, forcing his voice to stay even. 

 

“Oh.” She muttered, making herself comfortable. 

 

She was asleep in minutes but Cain just sat there staring blankly at the wall and wondering what to do. 

 

Their mother had emailed them for the first time in two years only to say that Owen wanted to see the two of them. 

 

Cain still hadn't even told Setsu that Owen wasn't really her father. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Sorry for the long wait in between chapters this time. This summer has been kind of hectic. I recently got into Game of Thrones (which has taken over my life) and am focusing more on my art and improving. And... ;) Working on a secret project. That will hopefully see the light of day at some point. It's a collab with one of my best friends and I'm SO excited to be working on it. It is an AU Skip Beat fanfic and that's all the info you're getting about it right now :P More info when we get closer to the ending but I'll drop some more hints here and there. We'll probably finish it before we post it though, so that means it'll likely not be seen until 2018 but keep your eyes out :D 
> 
> Anyways, thank you guys for all the support as usual and I hope you're enjoying this story still. I've really got a lot planned and I'm really happy with the direction it's going. And just to refresh some memories the last line of this chapter is in reference to the last chapter of They Had Each Other. Hopefully, you'll be seeing some more regular updates but I honestly don't know. I ran into some writer's block in this chapter so that's what a lot of the wait was. 
> 
> Love you all, see you next time! Prepare for Reino ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Cain was acting weird.

 

Setsu knew that he thought she wouldn’t notice but he had been acting weird ever since that email a few nights ago.

 

Things had calmed down after the original storm his introduction into the world had caused but he was still staying extremely busy with meetings and offers and spent most of his time at LME. She still hadn’t even been to the building because Cain kept leaving so early in the morning when she was still sleeping. He came back late into the evening and every now and then would bring her something to eat, but he tended to claim he was tired and went to sleep almost immediately.

 

She felt like he was avoiding her.

 

Over the past few days he had barely spoken to her unless she directly asked him and even then he only gave her short, curt answers. He treated other people like that, never her. She had been wracking her mind trying to think of anything she had done recently to cause him to act that way. But the only thing she could think of was the meeting with Shou, though she felt like he had gotten over that already. And there was the meeting with Vie Ghoul but he hadn’t seemed angry about that once she agreed that he would go with her.

 

The email was the only other thing that had happened that night but he had said it was spam and no matter how much she thought about it she couldn’t understand why that would have affected him so much.

 

So, either he was upset about something he wasn’t telling her about, still angry about her taking her offers, _or_ he had lied about the email.

 

None of those really made sense to her, though.

 

Frustrated, she turned on her side, trying in vain to get comfortable. She had recently woken up from a nightmare, the same recurring one she always had. Cain had comforted her for a bit but she had gotten hot cuddling with him and crawled out of the covers so she could lay on top of them. She hadn’t moved in a while, too lost in thought, so Cain probably thought she had fallen asleep when he carefully slipped out of the bed. She felt the shift as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed and heard him sigh and curse under his breath.

 

She opened her eyes and snuck a glance at him. He had a hand buried in his hair and was looking down at his phone judging from the blue light it cast on his face.

 

He stared down at the screen for a few more long moments, before sighing and cursing again. He stood up abruptly and Setsu quickly turned back to face the wall making sure her breathing stayed slow and steady. She heard him walk into the kitchen, turn on the tap and the loud sound of him gulping down the water.

 

It was silent for a moment until the glass he had been using clanged loudly in the sink and he cursed loudly.

 

Alarmed, she turned towards him, squinting to see him better in the darkness.

 

“Nii-san? What are you doing?” She asked.

 

“Nothing, sorry. Go back to sleep. I just… dropped a glass.” He muttered, sighing again but walking back to the bed.

 

The mattress sunk as he got back under the covers. She was still turned in his direction as he got in and she couldn’t help but notice that he kept his back to her.

 

He said he had dropped the glass, but it sounded like he had thrown it to her.

 

o///o

 

Setsuka was tired the next morning, she’d barely slept and knew Cain had been awake a long time after he had come back to bed; so he must have been just as exhausted as her.

 

Either way, neither complained when Setsu’s alarm went off that morning. She simply sighed and turned it off and Cain got up wordlessly and walked into the bathroom.

 

Today Cain had a meeting with the LME president and his co-actor in My Shadow. Tsuruga Ren had been busy and out of the city but he had apparently returned yesterday so the three were meeting to talk about the movie. Since Setsuka still hadn’t been able to go to the company with him she had insisted until he reluctantly agreed. Not to mention she was going to go stir-crazy if she stayed cooped up in the hotel room any longer.

 

Her own meeting with Vie Ghoul had been delayed a few days since they were apparently “writing a new song” and couldn’t be disturbed. She was at least in contact with their manager rather than having to keep going through that idiot Konoe.

 

She sat in bed for a moment before getting up with a sigh and picking out something to wear for the day. Tokyo was hot and humid and since it was summer the weather was even worse. She was used to the London cold where she never had to worry about sweaty leather.

 

Not that a little hot weather was going to stop her from wearing what she wanted.

 

She picked out her new favorite top, a corset bra with silver spikes all over the cups; she had found it in some hole in the wall goth store when she was wandering around one day. She also picked out a high waisted skirt that looked more like rows of black tape rather than actual fabric, Cain would never admit it but it was his favorite. She dug around a bit more and found a cropped leather jacket and shiny, black, thigh-high boots.

 

While she waited for Cain to finish in the bathroom she walked into the kitchen. Looking into the sink she spotted the unfortunate glass that had been thrown into it a few hours prior. It had chipped and a chunk of glass was lying in the sink. She glanced over to the bathroom.

 

There was no way he had dropped this.

 

She bit her lip at the realization and gingerly picked the glass and it’s remnants up, throwing it into the trash.

 

Something he wasn’t telling her was bothering him to the point of lying to her. They didn’t lie to each other ever and they didn’t keep secrets. So, if he wasn’t going to tell her, then she was going to ask.

 

In the meantime, she set to getting breakfast together with what little they had in the fridge. She would need to go shopping soon. Cain wouldn’t do it; if the fridge was empty he would just start ordering food and wouldn’t actually ever buy groceries. She had no idea how he survived when she wasn’t here.

 

Eventually, Cain came out of the bathroom. He was dressed and had maybe brushed his hair so he was more or less ready to go.

 

“I made breakfast.” She spoke up when he walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of boots.

 

He glanced her way briefly, nodding, and muttered an “alright” as he sat down to tie the laces.

 

He wouldn’t even make eye contact with her.

 

“Nii-san.” She called, hoping he would look up. He didn’t.

 

“ _Nii-san_.” She repeated. He suddenly looked very interested in his shoelaces even though he had already finished lacing them.

 

“ _Cain_.” She snapped. He looked up then, startled that she had called him by his name.

 

“...What?” Was all he said before he started looking anywhere but in her direction.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing.” He muttered, staring at the ground again.

 

“You can’t even look me in the eye and say it’s nothing.” She accused, the hurt appearing in her voice more than she would have liked. .

 

Cain sighed and ran a hand tiredly over his face. “Setsu, it’s nothing. Just drop it.”

 

“ _Bullshit_ !” Setsu cried, tears prickling her eyes. Cain’s eyes widened at the outburst but she continued on anyways. “You’re _lying_ to me about it. You don’t lie to me about _anything_ . So, _no_ , I’m not going to _drop it_.”

 

“Setsu…” Cain pleaded, but her arms were crossed in a way that made it clear that she wasn’t going to drop the subject.

 

“Did _I_ do something? Are you still mad about Shou Fuwa? Vie Ghoul? What the hell is it?” She demanded.

 

“No, Setsu… it isn’t…” Cain trailed off, looking away from her again.

 

“It isn’t what?”

 

Cain rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I don’t want to talk about this right now. You said you were going with me to the meeting. You need to get ready if you’re coming.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Cain looked at her then and he probably saw the hardness of her eyes and the seriousness of her statement.

 

“You don’t have to come with me. I can go alone.”

 

Her eyes narrowed. “ _You’re_ not going anywhere until you tell me. So, I guess we’re both stuck here until you tell me what’s going on with you. You’ve been acting weird for the last couple days, thinking I didn’t notice. I’m your _sister_ of course I’m going to notice. If I don’t know you, who else will? And I know that if you don’t want to tell _me,_ then it’s serious.”

 

He didn’t respond for a long moment. Setsu let the silence linger letting it pressure him into saying something.

 

“Christ, Setsu…” He muttered, but she wasn’t going to give in.

 

After another long silence he spoke again, “Fuck it.” He muttered harshly under his breath. Reaching over to dig into the pocket of the leather coat he left on the floor, he pulled out a cigarette first- holding in his mouth as he dug back into the pocket. When he finally produced the lighter he lit the cigarette and took a deep drag of it.

 

Setsu watched him curiously, she had been wondering why his clothes always smelled of cigarette smoke no matter how many times she washed them. He hadn’t smoked in front of her in years so she was little surprised to see him do it now.

 

“... Our…” He began after a few minutes had passed, then corrected himself.. “ _Erika_ emailed me.”

 

Setsuka didn’t really know what she had been expecting him to say, but hearing that their estranged mother had suddenly contacted them was not on the list. She could feel her eyes go wide and jaw slacken and she used the counter for support, worried that she might actually fall over.

 

She nibbled on her lip ring nervously. “A-And what did she have to say?”

 

Cain wordlessly took another drag of his cigarette.

 

“I-I don’t understand. Is this the first time she’s contacted you?” She’d had her suspicions when they had initially left their home, not so long after everything had gone so wrong. She knew their mother cared about them even if she didn’t always show it, even if she had never told them so. All this time she found it heart breakingly hard to believe that their mother hadn’t once tried to contact them. But the way Cain froze for half a second before looking down at the ground told her all she needed to know.

 

She could feel the hot tear sliding down her cheek before it fell to the floor with a splash, loud in the deafening silence of the room. The tremble of her hand as she brought it to her face to wipe away the trail the tear left was visible and if Cain hadn’t still been sitting in the same spot smoking his cigarette she would have thought he punched her. And worse than the physical pain that punch would have caused was the emotional _betrayal_.

 

“We’ll talk about this later, okay? You know that this role is important for me, I don’t want to mess it up.”

 

So he said. But she knew he was just trying to avoid having this conversation for as long as possible. But she did realize how important this job was for his career and she didn’t want to be the one to ruin it for him. She slapped away the few tears that were rolling down her cheeks and pushed off the counter, walking over to her brother.

 

He looked up at her as she approached and his mouth opened in surprise when she snatched the cigarette from his mouth, placing it in her own before she spun around, grabbing the clothes she had laid out and slamming the door to the bathroom behind her.

 

She was going to need more than just one cigarette to make it through the day.

 

o///o

 

The taxi drive to the LME building was tense and above all else, silent.

 

Setsuka was putting all of her energy into calming herself down in an extreme effort to not cry in public. Another impossible thing had happened today. One that should never have been possible. Her brother had made her angry and to be more specific- angry _at_ him.

 

She couldn’t even take pleasure in knowing how uncomfortable they were making the driver. She had made eye contact with him in the rearview window a few times, of course he had been staring at her; and as soon as Cain noticed he had reached over, torn the thing off, and thrown it out the window. Based on the small glimpse of his face she had seen she would have bet money that the driver had wet himself.

 

Of course, the smell was the more obvious sign.

 

It had been nothing but tense silence after that, the driver to nervous to even try turning the radio on.

 

When they finally arrived at the LME building, Cain tossed some money onto the passenger seat and the driver barely waited until they were out of the car before he took off, creating dark skid marks on the road.

 

Setsu merely continued walking towards the LME building, ignoring the strange stares they were now getting.

 

Can caught up and opened the door for her. She glanced at him but said nothing.

 

The building was large and nicer looking on the inside than Akatoki. Which made sense since they were rival talent agencies. One seemed to be obviously winning but maybe she wasn't the right person to judge.

 

Looking around she spotted the receptionist at the front desk, the woman was busy looking down at her computer screen and hadn't noticed them yet. Setsu almost felt bad that she was about to get the scare of her life. It was rare that both her _and_ her brother were in a bad mood but when they were… nothing good came out of it.

 

She came to a stop in front of the woman and tapped her nails rhythmically on the marble of the counter. The woman looked up curiously, her eyes widening in surprise as she took in Setsu and her mouth spilling open as she took in the sight of the very tall and brooding man behind her.

 

The woman moved her mouth as if wanting to say something but her eyes darted back and forth between the two as if unsure of which one to address first. Setsu rolled her eyes, having less than no patience today and spoke up for her.

 

“We have an appointment with Lory Takarada. Last name is Heel.” The woman gaped up at her as if shocked to hear Japanese from the girls mouth but nodded vigorously and set to typing into her computer.

 

They waited a few moments and she continued to type and then click a few times with the mouse. She glanced up at them worriedly after a few seconds and then set to typing and clicking again. She sighed and worried her bottom lip between her teeth before looking back up at them reluctantly.

 

“Um…” Her voice came out very high pitched and she cleared her throat to calm her nerves. “Takarada-san is in a meeting with Tsuruga Ren at the moment. If you don’t mind wait- …

-ing…” Setsu had begun to glare at her and she could only guess what face her brother was making because the woman suddenly trailed off, eyes wide.

 

“We’re supposed to be meeting with _both_ of them.”

 

The woman glanced back at her computer screen, back to biting her lip nervously.

 

“That’s… That’s not what it says here. I can’t allow you to go up until the system tells me he’s out of the meeting…” Setsu frowned at her, pointedly tapping her nails along the surface of the desk.

 

“Call him.”

 

“I-I’m sorry?” The woman stuttered.

 

“ _Call him_. Ask him if you can send us up.”

 

The woman’s eyes darted back and forth between the two again, but she nodded.

 

“I’ll… ask him then. If you don’t mind sitting down in our waiting area…?”

 

Setsu rolled her eyes but said nothing, walking away from the counter and sitting down in the aforementioned “waiting area”. Cain sat down next to her and all she could think of was the giant wall that had somehow formed between them in such a small amount of time. Just thinking about that made her want to cry, she couldn’t even bring herself to think about everything else that had helped to build that wall.

 

Sitting there with him in utter silence was suffocating.

 

Which hurt more than his admission of lying to her earlier.

 

She stood up suddenly, adjusting her skirt that had begun to ride up. She could feel Cain’s eyes on her.

 

“I’m going to look around for a minute. Stay here, I’ll be back in a minute..” She couldn’t even bring herself to look at him. She knew he wanted to resist that and either go with her or tell her to stay here but maybe being around her was just as suffocating as being around him was to her as he merely grunted a response.

 

She took off walking, without any real direction, just looking around at the place. The ground floor was more than just a reception area with huge glass windows all the way around and artwork, sculptures and posters of all sorts of entertainment icons that apparently worked in the company. It had begun to rain outside and the light pitter pattering on the windows helped to calm her raging emotions.

 

Although as she began to calm down she also began to notice some kind of commotion. She hadn’t really realized it earlier since she had been so out of it but hardly anyone was even paying attention to her. In fact, it seemed like some kind of crowd had gathered.

 

She walked toward the cluster of people, wondering what they were all looking at and from between the bodies she saw a blindingly pink shape dart past.

 

Frowning, she walked closer, pushing in between people to see clearly. As she emerged from the crowd her eyes widened.

 

A… girl was hand scrubbing the floor in a hallway at record speed, zooming left and right so quickly it was a miracle she didn’t slip and go rolling like a character in a cartoon. People in the crowd were cheering her on but some seemed just as confused as Setsu was.

 

After a few minutes had passed the girl seemingly finished and stood victoriously. A man emerged from the crowd and laughed as he congratulated her, taking some object and stamping a little booklet before handing it back to the girl. She blushed as she noticed the crowd that had formed and thanked the man, bowing deeply towards him.

 

The crowd began to disperse but Setsu remained standing there, arms crossed.

 

“Hey, you there.” She called, in English just to be especially annoying.

 

The girl’s eyes widened as she took notice of Setsu and she frowned a little in confusion.

 

“Yes?” The girl had replied in English. Unexpected but she supposed that most people knew how to say yes in other languages.

 

“Why are you wearing a jumpsuit that’s such an annoying color?”  

 

The girl sighed and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. It’s required of me to wear it.” Setsu raised an eyebrow. Another surprise, the girl seemed to be fluent in English. Rare for someone that looked to be either the same age or younger than her.

 

“What for? Is someone purposefully trying to humiliate you? I’m sure half of the people that see you in that immediately want to hit you.”

 

The girl’s head sprung up and she looked at Setsu with wide eyes.

 

“No, no, of course not!” The girl cried, gesturing wildly with her hands. “It’s an honor to be able to wear this! The president is a very charitable and nice person! He built the entire LoveMe section just so that I could be able to work here.”

 

Setsuka honestly had no idea why was even still talking to this girl. Normally, she wouldn’t have had a care in the world and would have moved on as soon as the crowd dispersed but there was _something_ , something she could quite put a finger on that made her curious about this girl. She almost felt _familiar_ even though Setsu was certain they had never met before.

 

“The LoveMe section? That’s supposed to be a _nice_ thing? It sounds like he’s just bullying you. Besides aren’t you a janitor or something?” Setsu asked, motioning to the shiny floor behind them.

 

The girl followed Setsu’s gesture and turned to look at the floor.

 

“Oh. No, I’m not a janitor. I’m an actor… well more of a talent. But doing things like this are required of me. The program that I’m in requires me to fill every request that someone has for me.”

 

“I see.” Setsuka responded, accidentally defaulting to Japanese. The girl looked confused now.

 

“You… speak Japanese?”

 

Setsu fiddled with her lip ring in annoyance. Her brain automatically started speaking in Japanese when she was in Japan, to the point where it required actual effort to remember to speak in English here unless she was talking to her brother.

 

Not like it mattered anyways. She doubted she would ever see this girl again and even if she did it didn’t really matter if the girl knew she spoke both English and Japanese. She was really just trying to fluster and annoy some annoying looking Japanese girl who didn’t study English enough in school. Not that it even worked.

 

“I do.” Setsuka responded, already beginning to grow bored of the conversation.

 

“Excuse me for asking but… where are you from?”

 

“London.” She responded simply.

 

“Oh. And… are you a singer? A kei artist or something like that?”

 

Setsuka almost laughed, did she really look that much like a Japanese Kei artist or was that just the least offensive thing that people could assume about her?

 

“No, I’m here with my-”

 

“Setsu.”

 

Speak of the devil. “-brother.” Setsuka finished before turning around to face the man approaching her.

 

“I thought you said you were coming back.” He muttered when he got close enough.

 

Setsuka avoided looking at him when she responded, “I was.” She had almost forgot about the situation with him while talking to the girl, but now that he was in front of her again all those troubling emotions came spewing back out like a soda bottle being opened for the first time.

 

“Um… Cain-san…?” The girl behind Setsuka spoke, making her turn around and look between them in confusion.

 

“Kyoko.” Cain acknowledged her but said nothing else.

 

“You know my nii-san?” Setsuka asked, hating the way that feeling of betrayal amplified and poked at her heart painfully. It also didn’t help that the girl was now blushing bright red from Cain’s casual use of her first name.

 

“Yes… we met a few days ago. I was tasked with escorting him to LME for the first time.” This… _Kyoko_ was looking between the two constantly as if confused. Cain hadn’t mentioned her at all. A fact that made Setsu even more uncomfortable with the situation.

 

“So,” The girl continued. “I assume everything went well with the offer? Are you meeting with Tsuruga-san today?”

 

“Yeah, the woman at the front desk told me that you could lead us to the president’s office.”

 

“Of course. Follow me, then.”

 

The girl started walking and Setsu begrudgingly followed after her. Cain made a point of walking behind the two.

 

They walked mostly in silence, Kyoko attempting to make casual conversation a few times but Setsu no longer wanted to talk to her despite that strange feeling of familiarity and Cain was being Cain and staying quiet. Although, Setsu noticed that whenever Kyoko said something that expected an answer and Setsu herself didn’t respond Cain would always speak up.

 

Which only made her more annoyed with the situation.

 

“Here it is.” Kyoko said at last, stopping before a set of huge double doors. She knocked lightly on the reflective glass before pushing the door open.

 

The two men inside turned their attention to the sound.

 

“Oh, Kyoko-chan. Good morning.” The older man spoke and Setsu assumed he was the zany president of the agency judging by his strange attire. It seemed like he was dressed up as some sort of American cowboy.

 

“Mogami-san, good morning.” The other man spoke up, standing up from his seat. “And you must be Cain Heel. Nice to finally meet you.” He walked over to them and held out his hand. Did everyone at this agency also speak in English?

 

Setsuka watched with wide eyes as Cain shook Ren’s hand. Seeing the two of them face to face like this was a thousand times scarier than just holding up a picture of Ren to Cain’s face. A sentiment that everyone in the room seemed to share as the two looked over each other.

 

Then the man who looked so eerily like her brother was looking at Setsu.

 

“And you must be his sister, correct?” He asked, holding his hand out to her as well. She was a little surprised that he didn’t have more of a reaction to her, but then again he was supposedly one of the top actors in Japan.

 

“Yes, I’m Setsuka Heel.” She shook his hand, and he smiled at her.

 

“I’m Tsuruga Ren. It’s strange…  you look a bit like Mogami-san.” At the mention of it, the two girls looked at each other.

 

So that was it, that strange feeling that she couldn’t quite place before. Kyoko Mogami looked startlingly like herself.

 

“What a strange group of coincidences between people!” The president exclaimed, standing up and walking over to the group. “You’ll have to forgive my terrible English, Heel-chan. I’m Lory Takarada, president of LME.” He bowed his head to her briefly.

 

“There’s no need to speak in English, I’m fluent in Japanese.” Setsu reminded him.

 

“Ah, right. You also double as a translator for Heel-san. That’s very useful.” He mumbled, gripping his chin. “Anyways, now that introductions are out of the way, let’s get to talking. Thank you for escorting the Heels here Kyoko-chan, remember to collect a stamp from Yuna-san.”

 

Kyoko bowed, “Thank you, nice to meet you Setsuka-san.” Setsuka merely made grunted in response and the girl took her exit, closing the doors behind her.

 

“If you’ll have a seat.” Lory instructed, taking a seat on one of the two loveseats in the office. Setsuka was a little surprised he didn’t choose to sit at the ornate desk in the center of the room but didn’t comment on it.

 

Cain followed in her steps as she she took a seat on the empty loveseat and sat down next to her while Ren took a seat next to the president.

 

A man Setsuka hadn’t even noticed in the room stepped into view, wheeling a cart over to where the four of them sat and set down cups and saucers, filling them with tea and setting down a plate of small cookies.

 

“Thank you, Sebastian.” The president spoke and the mysterious man disappeared again into a corner of the room. “So, then, I have the script here.” He pulled up a briefcase from beside the couch and opened it, taking out two large stacks of paper and handed one to Ren and the other to Cain.

 

Ren began flipping through it immediately, while Cain scanned the front page and then handed it to Setsu.

 

She flipped through the stack of papers for him, a usual ritual for them, she reached into her bag to take out a highlighter and began to highlight all of Cain’s lines. They would go over them later and Cain would read each one out loud and Setsu would help and correct him with the pronunciation.

 

“Director Ogata is very excited that the two of you are on board with the project so far and after this meeting he will be the one to contact you both and you’ll be meeting with him and the rest of the cast. He’s still casting a few of the minor characters but as soon as he finishes with that he’ll be handing out film schedules and all the other information like that.” Setsu quietly translated what Lory was saying to Cain as she continued going through the script and highlighting.

 

“I also have a manager lined up for you, Cain-san. Of course, they would also be working part time with Setsuka-chan.” She looked up from the papers at the mention of her name. She didn’t really think that she needed someone to take care of things like that for her.

 

“That is, is you have offers you’re planning on accepting?” He added.

 

She glanced over to her brother who was purposefully keeping his face as straight as possible.

 

“I… am planning on taking one. Vie Ghoul would like to have me in one of their music videos.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ren frown at the mention of their name.

 

She turned her attention to him. “Are you familiar with them?”

 

He quickly wiped the frown off his face and forced a smile in her direction.

 

“I’ve… met them before. Mogami-san had a bit of an altercation with them but she’s amazingly… _naive_ about certain things. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle them a lot better if anything were to happen.”

 

Setsuka could feel Cain adjusting in his seat beside her. “Like what?” He asked, speaking for the first time and in Japanese.

 

“I’m sorry?” Ren asked, seemingly feigning ignorance.

 

“You said if anything were to happen. What did you mean by that?” He spoke slowly but correctly and Setsu was starting to worry about Ren’s answer. She had only barely been able to convince Cain to let her go and now Ren was about to ruin all of that work.

 

All attention was on him now as he opened his mouth. “Well... the main singer took an unhealthy interest in Mogami-san and was just acting inappropriately. Mogami-san isn’t good with situations like that and didn’t think to tell anyone until he cornered her alone and Sho Fuwa was forced to help her. I don’t think anything like that would happen with you Heel-san. Especially with someone like your brother being anyone near you. They would have to be insane.” He was trying hard to not show it but it was obvious that wasn’t the whole story and from being around Cain all her life she could easily tell when someone was angry without it showing visually.

 

And Tsuruga Ren seemed positively livid about that situation. Setsuka couldn’t help but wonder what kind of relationship he had with Kyoko. But something else in what he said was sticking out to her.

 

“You said… Sho Fuwa had to help her?” She asked. Nothing about Sho Fuwa seemed particularly helpful or nice so it was hard to believe that he had randomly helped Kyoko in that kind of situation. Whatever that situation was, it was suspicious how vague Ren was being about the whole thing.

 

“Yes, he… is a childhood friend of Mogami-san and happened to be recording a song or something like that in the area.” If Setsuka couldn’t feel the rage coming from him with the mention of Vie Ghoul she could definitely feel the rage coming from Ren at the mention of Sho Fuwa. Even Cain was tensing up beside her now that he had been mentioned.

 

“Oh. I met with him already. He also made an offer for me to be in a music video of his. I turned it down, though.” She hated to admit it, but it was oddly fun trying to read Ren. The more she talked with him the more she noticed how hard he was trying to appear friendly and lighthearted. Something about him felt _fake_ as if he was acting in a role that wasn’t really himself. It would have been normal to display distaste for someone especially if they had done something to a friend of his like Kyoko but he seemed to be trying ridiculously hard to not let it bother him. And she couldn’t help but notice that all of that anger kept circling back to Kyoko Mogami. Now, she was doubly interested in the relationship between those two.

 

“I don’t know if you’re aware but he really, _really_ hates you.” She added.

 

Ren laughed, then. The most genuine thing she’d seen of him so far.

 

“Yes, I’m aware. I can’t say I’m much of a fan of him either.”

 

“Alright, kiddos, let’s get back on track shall we?” Lory interjected, pulling some more papers out of the briefcase.

 

o///o

It was another hour and a half until the meeting came to a close. Setsu had grown bored and tired halfway through and busied herself with reading the script and translating for Cain every now and then.

 

The manager that the two were going to get was a woman named Sakura Hyuga, a woman who was fluent in Japanese, English, Russian, Spanish, and Mandarin. Although, she was currently working with another actor on a project and therefore wouldn’t be able to properly manage them for another few months. They had been given her number though and were told that she would contact them soon and work out some details.

 

It had gone well and Setsuka was really beginning to feel like her brother’s career was taking off. And that scared her as much as it excited her.

 

But now they had more important things to talk about.

 

They rode back in silence to the hotel and in even more silence up the elevator.

 

Neither really wanted to have this conversation but it couldn’t be avoided anymore and Setsuka couldn’t just pretend her family didn’t exist.

 

She closed the door behind them as they walked into the room, leaning against it as she unzipped her boots and took them off.

 

Then she looked up at her brother who was already taking out another cigarette.

 

“So, I’m going to ask you again. Since you didn’t actually answer the first time.”

 

“Setsu we don’t have to talk about this.” Cain argued tiredly.

 

She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “ _Yes_ , we do.” She snapped, ignoring Cain’s sigh.

 

“Now, hand me a cigarette so I don’t have to snatch that one out of your mouth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Look at me, updating in a timely manner! And it's a long one too! (We won't talk about how this chapter was supposed to be done 2 weeks ago.) I have a really bad habit of sitting down and writing half the chapter and then getting distracted and then dragging out the last half of the chapter for way longer than necessary. I'll try to work on that. But anyways, I know I said prepare for Reino... but that wasn't my plan at all for this chapter so I have no idea why I said that? lol.
> 
> Thanks for reading and putting up with my trash update schedule. ^^;


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! Had to do a lot of research and rewriting for this chapter to make sure the characters were being portrayed correctly.

Cain never thought that he would be in this position. Looking up at his little sister as she took a long drag of the cigarette he had given her; Her glaring down at him and him about to make her even more upset. 

 

But he had brought this on himself by not telling her sooner. 

 

He sighed as he repeated that in his head once again. Setsuka was getting impatient with his silence and really no matter how much he tried he just couldn't get the words out. 

 

Today had been one of most trying days that he'd ever had. She was angry with him for the first time since he could remember and that was harder than he thought it would be to process. 

 

“Cain.” Setsu snapped, growing increasingly impatient. “What did mum say?” 

 

He looked up at her but the look on her face was like a physical stab so he quickly looked away. 

 

“She…” He finally managed to get out. “Told me that… “ He didn't want to tell her, he really didn't want her to know. 

 

“Told you  _ what?”  _ Setsuka demanded. 

 

If he told her she'd want to go. But she couldn't, he wouldn't let her. There was no way he would ever allow her to see him again. It didn't matter if she hated him, he wouldn't let her. 

 

“... That… Owen wanted to see you.” But he had said it anyways. 

 

Setsuka gasped quietly, stumbling backwards slightly as if she had been pushed. 

 

He had no idea what was going through her head. Tears had begun to fall onto her cheeks and it took a while for her to regain a semblance of composure. 

 

“He's… alive, then?” She asked softly. It seemed like she was talking more to herself than to Cain and so he chose not to respond. 

 

It was another long moment before Setsuka spoke again.

 

“Was that the first time mum contacted you?” She asked; tone accusing, voice hard. 

 

“No.” Cain admitted reluctantly, feeling a new wave of guilt swell. The contents of the first message were even harder to tell her than the second but a hundred times more important. 

 

Setsuka let out an indignant noise and Cain struggled to not flinch at the sound. 

 

“Why didn't you tell me any of this?!” She cried, her voice choked with tears. “What did she say the first time?”

 

“She…” He hesitated. He had no idea how she would take all this and the news that Owen wasn't her real father to begin with. How she would handle the fact that on top of everything that had happened, her entire childhood had been a lie as well. 

 

“... She just said the police weren't looking for us. And apologized.” 

 

The words didn't seem to calm Setsuka down, in fact she looked even more distraught. 

 

“She… she didn't even ask about us? Where we were?” She asked, incredulous as she wiped even more tears from her cheeks. 

 

“No. She probably knew I wouldn’t tell her anyways.” Cain commented. 

 

“That doesn’t matter! We’re her  _ children _ ! Her  _ only _ -” Setsuka cried, choking back a sob. She stopped for a second, taking a deep breath. “What was she apologizing for?” 

 

Cain sighed, resting his head in the palm of his hand. “For being a bad mother.” 

 

Setsuka scoffed, walking into the bathroom to blow her nose and wash the tears off her face. When she came back out she wordlessly walked into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. After a moment, she huffed and slammed the door closed. Cain watched as she grabbed for her phone and called for food delivery. 

 

After making the call she was quiet for a while and Cain desperately hoped she wasn’t trying to think of anymore questions to ask him. 

 

“I’m going.” She announced suddenly. Cain pulled his head out of his hands and craned his neck up to look at her. 

 

“What? You’re not-” He attempted to argue but she cut him off immediately.

 

“I’m  _ going _ .” She repeated. “I need to go back to England anyways so that I can finish school. You said it yourself.” 

 

He knew it. He  _ knew _ that she would insist on going. “I… think that it would be best if you transferred to a school here.” 

 

She frowned, no doubt surprised by his sudden acceptance of the idea. Truthfully, he’d been thinking it over since she mentioned it. It was probably a bad idea, being around her so much; but it would bring him much more comfort to know that she was close by instead of being in a completely different country.

 

“We already agreed that you would see about that job offer here, it would just complicate things if you were all the way over there when you had a job here.” Setsuka’s expression had morphed from confused surprise to just shock and barely disguised excitement. He could tell she was holding back because she was supposed to be angry right now, and that was the only reason she wasn’t excitedly pouncing on him right now. 

 

“Alright… “ She murmured cautiously. “But I’m still going. I want to see our parents, nii-san.” 

 

He fought down the instinct urge to correct her. Owen wasn’t his father and he wasn’t  _ hers _ either. 

 

“I don’t think that you should.” 

 

Setsuka stamped her foot down in childish frustration. 

 

“I don’t care if you think I should or not!” She shouted. “I want to see our family again!” 

 

There weren’t really words to describe the pain that Cain felt at that statement. A mix of resentment and an odd feeling of jealousy. Who had taken her away from that house of horrors? Who had been protecting her ever since? Who actually  _ cared _ about her? The “mother” that couldn’t care less about where they ran off to and what they were doing? Or the “father” that had taken advantage of and abused her? 

 

Neither. The answer was neither. So, who was her real family? Well, it was sitting right in front of her. 

 

He struggled to keep the anger out of his voice. “ _ I’m _ your family, Setsu.  _ I’m _ the one who cares about you the most.” 

 

She was about to retort but faltered as she noticed the effect that her words had. She sighed, putting the cigarette out in the sink and walked over to him. He let her cup his face within her hands and she lifted his head until he was looking into her eyes. 

 

“I know.” She assured gently. Their foreheads pressed together and Cain found himself wrapping his arms around her legs, pulling her closer. 

 

“I have to see him.” She whispered. Her resolve was apparent and it was obvious that nothing Cain said or did would stop her. But he knew that from the start. It was why he hadn’t told her to begin with. 

 

“I know.” He agreed, timbre rough and voice low. He unconsciously pulled her tighter against him. “I’m coming with you.” 

 

Her laugh rumbled through her body and the sound caused vibrations to seep through where they touched. 

 

“Yeah.” She nodded, also realizing that as an inevitability. 

 

They were quiet for a long moment.

 

Setsuka had wrapped her arms around his neck and they stayed in that strange standing and sitting hug until they heard a knock on the door. Setsuka tried to move away but Cain found himself unconsciously holding her tightly even when his brain was telling him that he should let go. 

 

Setsuka gently pried his hands from around her and stepped out of the embrace, walking towards the door. 

 

Cain breathed out a sigh and fell backwards onto the bed. 

 

He would have to tell her the truth about Owen at some point. 

 

Just not tonight.

 

o///o

 

The past few days had been an emotional whirlwind and Setsuka was glad to be able to immerse herself in something that could take her mind off of it. 

 

Cain had already booked their tickets to London and they were leaving the day after tomorrow. 

 

He had wanted to delay it as much as possible but with both of their schedules getting progressively busier, now was the best opportunity to go and come back within a few days. 

 

Setsuka almost couldn't believe it. They were actually going to be returning to the place where they grew up. She honestly never could have guessed that they'd ever go back there. 

 

And on top of all that her head was a mess of muddled images and emotions and she was… confusing the image of her daddy with Owen. Her nightmares had turned into a mangled and twisted distortion of reality and to be honest she was starting to not be able to tell the false memories from the real ones. She couldn't even properly remember his face now. Did he have a beard or just scruff? And were those crow's feet or laugh lines she remembered liking so much? 

 

He wanted to see her. 

 

But she couldn't really tell if  _ she _ wanted to see  _ him _ . Sometimes when she tried to remember his face too hard all she saw was the bloody mess Cain had left him in. She could see the busted lip tear wider as he opened his mouth, the gurgle of blood in his throat as he tried to speak. 

 

She had been so  _ bold _ the other day, so sure of herself. But that had faded away like fog under the sun as she started thinking about what seeing him would actually mean. 

 

What if Cain was  _ right _ ? What if she had become so twisted and abused that the man she thought she adored was actually a monster? 

 

What if he was  _ wrong _ ? What if she really did love her father and he loved her? Would she want to stay with him? Actually that wasn't even a question, there was no way in hell Cain would ever allow that. 

 

But what if she had to choose?

 

No. 

 

Now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to focus. 

 

This week had been full of meetings and today was no exception. Vie Ghoul was finally ready to meet with her and she was trying, and failing, to focus all of her nervous energy into it. 

 

“Setsu?” Cain called, bringing her attention back to her surroundings. He was opening the car door for her and waiting for her to step out. 

 

She did so hastily, only barely managing to not fall flat on her face. Her brother didn't comment on it but laid a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

 

Their taxi driver mumbled something to them that neither heard and took off. 

 

Setsu straightened out her skirt and began walking towards the reflective glass building. Cain followed behind. 

 

She didn’t know much about the agency Vie Ghoul was signed to and honestly she couldn’t even remember the name of it, but it was obvious as soon as they entered the building that they were a much smaller company than LME and maybe even smaller than Akatoki. 

 

It was much further from downtown Tokyo than LME and Akatoki had been and though the building looked nice from the outside, it looked rather plain on the inside with simple white walls and oak flooring. 

 

The room was empty save for the receptionist who looked bored when Setsuka laid eyes on him but when he noticed their entrance he quickly went through several different facial expressions. Surprise, likely that someone had entered; Interest, when he laid eyes on her; and Pure Fear when he laid eyes on Cain looming behind her. 

 

Cain couldn’t even contain his scoff. 

 

“U-um... “ The receptionist hurried to speak. “H-how can I h-help you?” 

 

“I have an appointment with Vie Ghoul.” Setsu spoke up, struggling not to laugh herself. Poor guy, he was probably no older than Cain, himself. . 

 

The guy glanced at her as she spoke but almost immediately looked away when he remembered the large man behind her. He chewed his lip nervously, focusing his gaze on the computer screen in front of him. 

 

“O-Oh? N-name please?” 

 

“H-” Setsu began only to be interrupted immediately. 

 

“Heel.” Cain answered. 

 

The receptionist nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice but once he realized what was said, he tentatively looked up from the computer monitor. 

 

“U-um… like… Heel-san from Tragic Marker?” 

 

Setsu looked between the two men in surprise, only to find that Cain looked just as surprised as she felt. 

 

“...Yes.” He answered after a long moment. 

 

The receptionists eyes lit up and he fumbled to grab something from the desk. “Wow! I’m a big fan, Black Jack is so cool in that movie! Do you mind if I get your autograph?” The man held out a notebook and a pen eagerly. 

 

The previous tense mood in the room completely dissolved and left both of the Heel siblings reeling. 

 

Cain reached out for the notebook and pen after a moment of hesitation and signed his name on the paper before handing it back to the man. 

 

He looked at the signature and grinned like a fangirl seeing her favorite member of a boyband. 

 

“This is so cool! I can’t believe I’m meeting you here! I heard that you did all of your own stunts for the movie, is that true!?” 

 

Cain scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. This was the first time since hamster girl that someone was showing him so much positive attention, Setsu couldn’t help but smile proudly. 

 

“Uh… Yeah, I did.” 

 

“That’s amazing!” The receptionist exclaimed. “I was trying to figure out how they CG-ed that one flip and perfectly caught your face on the camera but you just did it yourself, wow!’ 

 

“Right…” Cain spoke again, obviously not knowing how to handle all the fanboy talk. “She has an appointment.” He repeated, likely just to get the attention off of himself. 

 

The receptionist looked over at Setsu with wide eyes, likely completing forgetting that she was standing there. 

 

“O-oh right!” He began typing in the computer. “That’s your… sister, right? I saw you two on that morning show the other day, when they announced who the mysterious Actor X was. Well, I guess that’s you! Haha…” The man laughed awkwardly and clicked the mouse. 

 

“Right, got it. Setsuka Heel meeting with Vie Ghoul office room 203. That’s gonna be up the stairs and second door on the right.” The man looked up from his screen and beamed proudly at the two. 

 

Cain was already walking away and Setsu followed after him, laughing under her breath. 

 

“Thanks again for the autograph!” The man shouted after them. 

 

Cain tensed but continued up the stairs without another word. 

 

This time Setsu did laugh. “Are you getting embarrassed, Nii-san?” 

 

Her brother grimaced. “It’s not attractive for a guy to be acting like that towards me. Gives me the creeps.” 

 

Setsu laughed again. “I thought it was pretty cute. I wish I could have filmed it, your #2 biggest fan.” 

 

“#2?” Cain echoed in confusion. 

 

Setsu reached the landing before him and turned around to wink at him. 

 

“#1 is me of course. Nobody will ever take my place.” She teased, sticking her tongue out at him. 

 

He smiled at her, one of those rare genuine ones that she was sure very few people in the world had ever seen. 

 

As they continued walking down the hallway they began to hear muffled voices that only got louder as they approached the door, room 203. 

 

“-ired of waiting!” 

 

“She’s only a few minutes late, calm down.”

 

“Then why did we get here an hour before she was supposed to get here? I could have slept another forty-five minutes!”

 

“We had to finalize the song, although you slept the whole time so I don’t know why you’re complaining. 

 

“ _ Ugh _ … Setsuka-chan hurry, I’m  _ sleepy _ .”

 

“Ooh, they’re talking about us!” Setsu whispered. “Time to make a timely entrance.” 

 

Cain rolled his eyes but pulled the door open for her. 

 

The chatting in the room stopped at the sound of the door opening and Setsu walked in, taking in the gazes of the five band members, as well as the man and the woman sitting at the head of the table. 

 

“Oh, she heard me!” The one with the short spiky hair attempted to whisper although Setsuka heard him clearly. The member sitting next to him with straight brown dyed hair smacked him on the back of the head.

 

“Ow!” He hissed in pain, holding the spot with his hand. 

 

“Oh! Setsuka-chan!” The woman at the head of the table hurried to stand, nudging the man beside her to stand as well. 

 

Setsuka could almost feel the jovial mood of the room slip into terse silence as Cain stepped inside and closed the door after him. 

 

The woman froze for a moment looking at him with wide eyes but then she shook off the initial fear that Cain always inspired in others and continued walking towards them. 

 

She bowed politely and then forced the man beside her to do so as well when she saw that he was blankly staring at Cain still. 

 

Setsu bowed slightly in return. 

 

“Thank you again for meeting with us, I’m Yui Hironaka, the head producer here and this is the Vie Ghouls manager, Taro Nishida who you’ve been communicating with over phone.” 

 

The man bowed again as he was introduced. 

 

“Nice to officially meet you, Setsuka-chan.” 

 

“Nice to officially meet you.” Setsu echoed, bowing at him. 

 

The woman’s eyes flitted above Setsuka’s head, likely looking up at Cain.

 

“And this is your brother, Heel-san, yes?” 

 

Setsu nodded. 

 

“Nice to meet you.” Cain spoke up, in English. So, it was going to be one of those days. 

 

The woman smiled a bit awkwardly but motioned to the empty seats at the head of the table across from where she had been sitting and returned to her seat along with the manager. 

 

“Hope you’re not forgetting to introduce us.” The brunette spoke up after everyone had been seated. 

 

“Oh, I thought you boys could do that just fine on your own.” The woman laughed. 

Setsu had been trying to ignore it as they were greeting the manager and producer but she felt continuous stares from the five men ever since she had entered the room. More importantly, she felt someone boring into her with their gaze and though she had been trying her best to ignore it she couldn’t keep her eyes from sliding to where that gaze was coming from as the members began to introduce themselves.. 

 

Out of all of them, she recognized him the most. Wavy silver hair, clipped bangs hanging low over his eyebrows, beauty mark under his left eye, and thick black choker around his neck.

 

“I’m Reino, the lead singer.” 

 

And then next to him. 

 

“And I’m Miroku, the drummer.” The blonde with hair nearly as long as hers said, smiling brightly at her. 

 

“Right, so now that introductions are out of the way.” Yui spoke up, picking up a stack of papers. “Time for the MV pitch.” Her and Taro passed them out to everyone, including Cain. 

 

“So,” Taro began. “The story goes heavily with the lyrics to the song  _ Captive _ . Reino-san and Miroku-san play the main roles, the demon brothers, and of course Shizuru-san, Kiyora-san, and Dasuku-san also play demons but we’ll get to that. In the video Reino-san stumbles across an angel and he quickly falls in love with her, this female role will be played by Setsuka-chan. Miroku-san finds about this secret love affair and tries to stop it for the good of both of them as Reino-san will never be pure and Setsuka-chan will only be dragged down further. But Reino-san refuses, even when all of his brothers attempt to talk him out of it. So, in the end, Miroku has to kill the angel to save his brother for which the consequence will be his life.” 

 

The three members with the lesser roles immediately begin groaning and nearly falling out of their chairs, muttering things like “so cool!”, “why does he get to be the one to die for Reino-sama?”, and “how tragic!”. 

 

The entire thing was incredibly bizarre and went against the cool and aloof demeanor that all of them had been maintaining before that. 

 

The storyline sounded oddly familiar to her and she wracked her brain trying to pinpoint what exactly it was reminding her of. And then a face came to her mind. 

 

“Do you mind letting me hear the song?” She asked, wondering if she was just imagining the similarity. 

 

“Oh, of course!” Yui answered, taking her phone out of her jacket pocket and typing in it until a melody began to play. 

 

A very  _ familiar _ melody. 

 

She had only heard it once before, when Haruki Asami had been explaining the PV to her, but there was no doubt about it. It was almost exactly the same. 

 

“Isn’t all of this really similar to Sho Fuwa’s  _ Prisoner _ ?” She asked. A few of the members around her snickered and she met eyes with Reino who was smirking as he looked at her. 

 

“Well, that’s exactly what we were going for so that’s nice to hear.” He said, speaking up for the first time since he had introduced himself. 

 

“Vie Ghoul is a relatively new band,” Taro began explaining. “There are many artists in the Visual Kei business but none are anywhere near as popular as Sho Fuwa. So, we decided to follow in his footsteps. We have heavily analyzed everything he’s done in the last few years from his appearance, vocal range, music sound, and personality and have worked tirelessly to replicate it.” The man leaned forward in his chair and let out a jovial laugh. 

 

“The best part is that even if his fans realize it they still can’t resist liking our music and since Vie Ghoul is new, we are rapidly gaining popularity to the point where they’re playing Vie Ghoul just as much as Fuwa on the radio. We’ve even planted a spy in Fuwa’s band who tells us everything that he’s doing and he has no idea about it.” 

 

“It’s sad that he’s so stupid.” The sleepy member she had heard before,  _ Dasuku _ , spoke up. 

 

Next to him, the tall dark haired member who had been very quiet so far responded lowly. “It’s  _ because _ he’s so stupid that we can get away with doing this.” 

 

Setsuka shook her head in confusion, wondering how they could boast about directly stealing music from someone without a hint of shame. Not that she cared, Sho Fuwa could go to hell. She turned her attention to the short script in front of her as the members continued to insult Sho, she had nearly finished reading it as Taro read but when she began reading the next line she froze. 

 

“Um…” She began, rereading the line again to make sure that she hadn’t read it incorrectly. “It says here that the demons see their brother kiss the angel.” 

 

Cain, who had sat next to her rigid as a statue since they had introduced themselves, suddenly moved, leaning over her shoulder to look at what she was talking about. She wasn’t even sure he could read the line, his hiragana wasn't the best, but she could already see him shaking his head from the corner of her eye. 

 

“Absolutely not.” He stated gruffly, even going so far as saying it in Japanese. 

 

Setsu couldn’t help but agree with him. Acting in a music video with these guys was one thing but kissing them was entirely different. . 

 

Both the producer and the manager looked flustered by the siblings immediate rejection of the idea and Setsu imagined that they probably thought that any young girl would be totally up for kissing the main singer of a band and the fact that she wasn’t was surprising. 

 

“Um…” Yui tried, waving her hand dismissively. “That’s a very minor detail. We can even find a way to shoot so that the kiss is assumed and you don’t actually have to do it if you don’t want to Setsuka-chan.” 

 

The atmosphere in the room had turned both awkward and smothering and Setsu could tell that it was because Cain who had been merely a shadow beside her was now glaring at everyone and his presence had doubled. 

 

Setsu sighed and stood from her seat. 

 

“That’s fine. We can talk about it more later. Excuse me for a moment, I’m going to use the restroom.” 

 

“O-of course,” Taro responded, looking between her and her brother uncomfortably. 

 

Setsu bowed slightly and sent Cain a look when he made a move to come with her. He looked displeased but remained sitting. 

 

Once she was out of the room she let out a breath that turned into more of a huff and began aimlessly walking down the hallway. 

 

Why did there have to be a kiss!? It was like the very universe was trying to keep her from actually being able to work an acting gig. Even if they found a way to work around it, getting Cain to agree to it would be next to impossible. And even if she managed to convince him, he would probably insist on coming the filming and would probably be in such a bad mood that everyone at the set would barely be able to focus. 

 

Although, even without the kiss she highly doubted that he would let her go unchaperoned at any time with the five members. 

 

She was sure that Cain had noticed that the lead singer, Reino, had barely taken his eyes off of her the entire time. His lavender contact covered eyes had been hard to ignore and there was something about the intensity of his gaze that made her curious. Not to mention the strange way his band members seemed to idolize him as an almost godly figure. 

 

“If you’re looking for the bathroom, it’s downstairs.” Setsu spun around at the sound of the voice, completely startled by the sudden sound. 

 

Oh,  _ speak of the devil. _

 

Reino was standing there, a small smirk on his face. He was tall now that he was standing in front of her, probably a bit taller than Sho but still shorter than her brother. 

 

She looked up at him in surprise although she was hoping she was keeping it off of her face. 

 

“Right… Thanks.” She managed. Honestly she wondered how he had left the office room without Cain following after him.

 

Now, although she had responded to him, he was essentially blocking her way down to the stairs and seemed to have no intention of moving. She really just wanted to get out of the room for a minute and didn’t need to use the restroom at all so now they were stuck in an odd standoff. 

 

“Your brother is scary. Is he always emitting such a murderous aura or does he just not like us?” He asked after a moment of silence had passed. 

 

Setsu scoffed. “He doesn’t like most people. Although, I’ve heard that there are plenty of people who dislike  _ you  _ specifically..” Now was the perfect time to ask him about that and she couldn’t contain her curiosity. 

 

“Tsuruga Ren, for example.” 

 

The shudder that went through him was visible and his face immediately darkened. 

 

“Tsuruga Ren is a very dangerous man. I don’t doubt that your brother is as well but that man… is hiding something. Your brother wears his danger on his sleeve but Tsuruga Ren doesn’t and that’s much more frightening.” 

 

Setsuka couldn’t help but agree with that, there was something clearly not right with Tsuruga Ren and he was definitely hiding something. It was nice to hear that someone else thought similarly but she wouldn’t tell him that to his face. 

 

“I heard that  _ you _ were the dangerous one.” She countered, crossing her arms. “Something about cornering Mogami Kyoko alone…” 

 

Reino looked a little surprised that she knew that information but he was nonchalant when he answered. 

 

“That… is a long story. Kyoko was avoiding me so I had no choice but to get her alone. Of course, Sho Fuwa and that Tsuruga Ren always intervene. Those two are rather constant annoyances when it comes to her.” 

 

Setsuka frowned at that, the two men seemed to hate each other and though Sho was apparently her childhood friend she didn’t really understand what interest Ren could possibly have in her. Once again she found herself wondering what their relationship was. Of course, Reino’s casual use of Kyoko’s name without any honorifics didn’t miss her.

 

“What is it about her that’s so interesting?” She asked, genuinely wanting to know. Reino smirked again, a knowing one that made her feel like he knew exactly what she was thinking. 

 

“She  _ is _ a very plain and boring girl, don’t you think? What are some of the most popular faces in the entertainment industry doing fighting over her?” Reino stepped closer to her, leaning down conspiratorially. Setsuka stiffened at his sudden closeness but her curious gaze didn’t falter.

 

“She can  _ transform _ .” He whispered. “Her role as Mio in Dark Moon is utterly captivating.” 

 

He straightened his posture and began talking normally once again. “I am a medium. Which means I can sense souls and auras and communicate with spirits.” 

 

Setsuka lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. 

 

“Kyoko has so many spirits of despair and hatred around her at all times. She’s harboring a hatred so deep that she can also communicate with them. That’s what interests me. All of that hatred is directed at Sho Fuwa for some reason, not that I really care why. They have some strange sort of relationship. I was hoping to steal her away from him, which was easy enough since she also hates me but she has that Tsuruga Ren around her almost all the time and although I’m not afraid of death, I am afraid of that man.” 

 

“So you… see spirits and auras?” She echoed dumbly, completely bewildered by what he just said. 

 

He nodded, “Yes”. 

 

“What do you see around  _ me _ , then?” She asked, crossing her arms.

 

His eyes narrowed and he studied the area around her intently. After a long moment he focused his gaze back on her. 

 

“Sorrow, misery, hands…  _ possessive _ hands around you. They seem… different like they’re different people. It’s strange.” 

 

“What is?” She asked, feeling oddly shaken up that he had been able to see something like that. 

 

He cocked his head, looking at her strangely. 

 

“Your aura is as black as Kyoko’s but it’s not anger.” He shifted uncomfortably, hand ghosting over his heart and clutching his shirt strangely. “It… hurts me to look at it. I noticed it before but your brother has such blackness around him that all I could see was the anger.” 

 

He stared at her for another moment, making her feel uncomfortable for the first time under someone’s gaze and then turned around abruptly. 

 

“I suppose I should be upset that you are so against kissing me,” The sudden subject change caught Setsu by surprise and it took a moment for her to realize he was talking about the script. “But I think it’s probably for the best. I don’t like pain, and your brother would surely hurt me if I touched you.” 

 

He was walking back towards the office as he spoke and merely glanced in her direction before opening the door and stepping inside. 

 

Setsu watched until the door closed and then shook her head violently, pacing back and forth until the wild beating of her heart settled. 

 

When Reino had initially said that he was a medium she had to seriously fight the urge to scoff, things like that were just made up stories that people told to make money off of gullible idiots but… 

 

_ Why was she finding herself believing him? _

 

She could almost feel the cool weight of hands on her shoulders and ankles and the thought that they were actually there sent a cold shiver up her spine. 

 

She shook off the feeling as much as she could and set her jaw so that her face had the same stoic expression as it always did when she walked back into the room. 

 

All eyes were on her once again as she entered the room and she couldn’t but notice Cain’s scowl as she returned to her seat. She could tell he had a thousand questions to ask her but in an attempt to be professional he apparently decided to save them for later, opting to grunt and lean back in his chair instead. 

 

“So, Setsuka-chan.” Yui spoke up, over the members chatting amongst themselves, and getting the attention of the room. “That’s basically all we had for you, today. You’re welcome to think it over but we do need an answer before next week.” 

 

“We do hope you’ll take it, of course.” Taro added. “You perfectly fit the look that we wanted for the angel.” 

 

Setsu glanced over at Reino who was whispering something to Miroku. 

 

“Well, I’ll be thinking about it seriously. Thank you again for the opportunity.” She said, bowing as she stood. 

 

Everyone else took this as a sign to stand and bow as well. 

 

“Thank you for meeting with us.” Taro said politely, the sentiment echoed by Yui. 

 

“Please choose us Setsuka-chan!” Dasuku pleaded. 

 

“At the very least, don’t choose Fuwa Sho.” The brunette next to him muttered under his breath. 

 

“It was very nice to meet you.” Reino spoke, smiling thinly as though he didn’t do it very often. 

 

Setsuka nodded to them in response and walked through the door that Cain was holding for her. 

 

The two began walking away but just before the door closed she heard Miroku say something. 

 

“I hope she agrees to work with us. Something tells me that this will be a very interesting development.” 

 

Cain, apparently, also heard him. 

 

“I don’t like them.” He stated gruffly. 

 

Setsu rolled her eyes. 

 

“I’d be more surprised if you did.” Honestly, she wasn’t sure of what she thought of them herself but she was sure of something. “I think I’m going to take the job.”  

 

They reached the stairs and Cain reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. His face was stony as he looked at her. 

 

“Fine. But you are  _ not _ kissing him. He was staring at you the entire time, with this little smirk on his face that made me want to beat the shit out of him.” He snapped. 

 

Setsu frowned at him, removing his hand from her shoulder and turning around to face him. 

 

“Would you kiss a girl if the script said that you had to?” 

 

Cain made a face as if he couldn’t understand why she was asking him that. 

 

“ _ Would you _ ?” She repeated sternly. 

 

“Why are you asking me that? That’s a completely different situation.” He scowled. “If you kiss him then he’ll probably start to get other ideas and then what? What if he attacks you in your dressing room or something? I can’t always be around you, that’s why it’s best that you don’t entertain men like that, if something happens to you and I’m not there…” He trailed off, letting out a shaky breath and looking away from her. 

 

Her heart ached painfully and she immediately reached for him, pulling him into a hug. 

 

“Cain…” She sighed, squeezing him tightly against her. “Stop thinking awful things like that. I’ll be fine. I can handle myself if you’re not around.” 

 

She could tell he wasn’t convinced but he said nothing more, just let out a breath in her hair and clutched her head to his chest. She sighed, letting him go. 

Setsuka began walking down the stairs but stopped when she realized Cain still hadn’t moved. She turned and sent him a curious look. 

 

“What did he say to you?” 

 

“What?” Setsu asked, bewildered by the sudden question. 

 

“The lead singer. When you went to the bathroom. I was going to go after him when he left but his blonde friend distracted me. Apparently he speaks English.” 

 

So that’s what happened. Setsu knew there was no way Cain would have just let Reino come after her alone. 

 

“What did he say to you?” He repeated when she still gave no answer. 

 

She shrugged. “He talked about you for a minute. Then, I asked him about what happened with Kyoko because I was curious.” 

 

Cain narrowed his eyes. “That’s it?” 

 

She glanced around the staircase, not really knowing how to repeat what Reino had said to her in a way that made sense. 

 

“He… told me that he was a psychic. Or a  _ medium _ I guess. He talks to spirits and stuff like that.” 

 

Cain scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Great so he’s fucking mental, too.” 

 

Setsu felt the need to correct him, to argue that she hadn’t felt like he had been lying. There was something off about Reino and she couldn’t help but believe that he really had seen something around her. Those hands… 

 

But she swallowed down the urge. 

 

“Yeah, well, maybe. But I’m still taking the job. Come on let’s get going.” She turned and continued her trip down the stairs. This time Cain actually followed behind her. 

 

The receptionist gushed about how cool it was meeting them when they passed him but Setsu was barely listening. 

 

Now that the meeting was over there was nothing to distract her from the fact that they were flying out to London in less than 48 hours and she was going to have to confront the past that Cain had forcibly taken them away from. 

 

It was time to meet Owen face to face and she could only hope that it wouldn’t be the same one from her dreams. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as usual! Hope you enjoyed Reino, I worked really hard to keep him as in character as possible which is incredibly difficult because he's such a strange bean. Anyways, we're getting into the main plot now and the Heel Siblings will be facing their past head on in the next chapter. I'm really interested in any thoughts/predictions you all have for the story. I can't give you any definitive answers but feel free to share! 
> 
> See you next time! (Hopefully before another 2 months pass, sorry about that!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Haven't had to do one of these in a while.)
> 
> Warning: Heavy Mentions of Sexual Abuse Involving a Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? Look at me having a great update schedule! I was really determined to finish this chapter because as I said I've been planning it since the beginning but also I was going to make a bit of a holiday special and update a very long chapter on/around Christmas day... but it's very late here and I'm not great at waiting to update because I want your reactions *immediately* after I finish writing, haha. So here it is! The long awaited reunion, complete with a cliffhanger at the end.

The day comes faster than either Heel siblings thought it would.

 

Setsu is a mess and she’s so nervous that she can barely hold things in her hands which causes her to drop her phone a ridiculous amount of times before they roll their luggage out of the hotel room.

 

Cain is quiet, well quieter than usual, and doesn’t say more than a few words to his sister the entire morning. She just ends up hurriedly following behind him when he repeatedly starts walking away without a word.

 

o///o

 

They’re late to the flight.

 

By the time they get there, the last few passengers are presenting their boarding passes to the woman checking them, and Setsu realizes that in her nervous frenzy she stupidly packed the passes into her suitcase and it takes her three minutes to find the slips of paper that are buried between the layers of her folded clothes. When she finally presents them to the woman she’s on the verge of having a panic attack.

 

The woman smiles at her stiffly and instructs them to board the plane quickly.

 

Setsu struggles to get her bag zipped and after a few seconds Cain swats her hands out of the way and zips it for her, positioning his grip on both of the bags within one hand and reaching out with the other to lace his fingers with hers.

 

She grips it harder than she probably should but Cain doesn’t say anything and they walk down the covered walkway into the body of the plane.

They get to the row that was labeled in their boarding pass and the seemingly British young woman sitting there in the end seat glances up at them and then looks at them again when the two continue to stand there. The woman looked at the two vacant seats next to her and seemed to come to the realization that the two of them were sharing the row with her. She hurried to stand, muttering apologies simply to be polite, and Setsu thanked her quietly.

 

Cain reached up to put their luggage in the overhead storage; they were only staying for a couple days and had packed light. Well _he_ had at least, Setsu had crammed as much as she could into the small bag and still get it to close.

 

When that was finished he slid into the window seat muttering something about needing leg space and Setsu sat next to him, in the middle seat. The woman sat back down in her seat after a moment.

 

After a few more minutes had passed the pilot began speaking to them and the stewardesses gathered in the aisle of the plane to act out the safety procedures. Setsu watched them with little interest while Cain stared out of the window of the plane.

 

When they had finished going through the procedures they disappeared to different areas of the plane and the pilot instructed everyone to turn off their electronic devices. Setsu wasn’t even sure where she had put her phone, she couldn’t feel the weight of it in her pocket and she hoped she had just stuck it in her bag and not left it at home.

 

Although, when Cain moved out of the corner of her eye, she turned to face him and saw that he was holding down the power button on a phone, _her phone_ she realized, and then handed it to her.

 

She looked at him in confusion, wondering when he had picked it up, but he simply took out his own phone and turned it off, sticking it into the pocket of his jeans.

 

“Why don’t you try taking a nap?” He asked suddenly.

 

A nap? How was she supposed to sleep with every nerve in body screaming anxiety at her? And sleeping? The _last_ thing she needed was to have another demented dream of the mix-matched _Owen_ and _Daddy_ in her head. No, she had had _plenty_ of that in the last 48 hours.

 

“I’m fine.” She responded quietly, and Cain scoffed letting her know that he clearly didn’t believe that.

 

She thought that maybe she should argue that she _was_ , in fact, fine. But she couldn’t even convince herself of that, let alone Cain.

 

Setsuka settled into her seat, gently leaning her head against Cain’s shoulder. She felt him shift so he could glance at her and after a few seconds he moved so he could wrap his arm around her and pulled her closer until her side was pressed against the hard metal separator between them.

 

It was uncomfortable and dug into her side but she didn’t even think about moving away.

 

o///o

 

Halfway into the 12 hour flight Cain began snoring lightly on her shoulder, having resting his head there a while ago. He was dead weight against her and borderline crushing her but she welcomed it, the feeling of something solid and tangible against her was soothing her raging thoughts.

 

An elbow suddenly jabbed into her from the opposite side and Setsuka instinctively turned to look at her.

 

“Oh, I am so sorry!” The woman apologized profusely, putting her drink down on the pull out tray.

 

Setsuka eyed the drink, it looked like whiskey and she wished that she could order one as well.

 

“... It’s alright.” She replied after a long moment.

 

The woman, perplexed and likely not expecting an English response, followed Setsuka’s gaze to the plastic cup. She chuckled lightly.

 

“I’m not a good flyer, I’ve seen far too many movies, so I’m just a complete nervous wreck.” She laughed again and Setsuka forced a smile in response.

 

The woman, probably only a few years older than Setsu now that she was getting a good look at her, took a sip of her drink and gestured to Cain.

 

“Is he your boyfriend? You two look so cute together.”

 

It wasn’t the first time Setsu had ever been asked that and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Truthfully, she didn’t like the question nor did she understand it. Why did they have to be in a romantic relationship just because they were close and loved each other? Who made the rule that you couldn’t love your family more than you loved anyone else? And how did that make any sense?

 

Usually she would just let people assume that, because it stopped them from asking a thousand other questions and getting that _look_ in their eyes that she hated. But today the assumption irritated her.

 

“No, he’s my brother.” She corrected, sounding much harsher than she meant to.

 

The woman looked taken aback for a second and then laughed a bit awkwardly. “Oh. Wow, sorry. Nothing worse than someone assuming that you’re going out with your brother.” She laughed again.

 

“How disgusting,” The woman continued, making a face. “I have a brother myself and I think I’d vomit at the _thought_ of dating him.”

 

Setsuka clutched her hands into fists, narrowing her eyes, and attempting to not take what the woman was saying personally. _What_ exactly was disgusting about being close with your siblings? The only _bad_ thing about people assuming Cain was her boyfriend and not her brother was that Setsuka didn’t _need_ a boyfriend because she had him and apparently nobody could understand that.

 

“But then, we don’t get along half as well as you two. By now he would have called me a cunt and I’d have called him a bloody twat and we’d both be getting thrown off the plane.”

 

Setsu didn’t bother responding, she was sure if she opened her mouth that she’d be calling her those very same words.

 

“So you two must be close, then?” The woman asked, taking another sip of her drink.

 

“We are.” Setsuka responded firmly, a hardness in her voice that caused the woman’s eyebrows to pull together slightly.

 

She glanced between the two of them and leaned in closer to Setsuka to whisper. “A big, scary looking guy like that probably scares away all the cute guys that want to talk to you, right? It must be a chore trying to date.”

 

Setsuka gaped at the woman in disbelief. What the _fuck_?

 

Anger rushed through her so quickly she barely realized that she had raised her hand as if to slap the woman across the face.

 

A separate hand appeared out of nowhere and stopped her mid-movement, lacing long fingers around her own and bringing their joined hands down to the armrest. Cain had woken up some point during the conversation and Setsu had been so pissed off that she didn’t even notice that he had stopped snoring.

 

“Setsu.” He mumbled lowly, the timber of his voice suggesting he had heard enough to be upset by the conversation.

 

Somewhere distantly, Setsu realized that she was getting unnecessarily angry and that it was completely absurd that she would hit the woman over something so simple. It wasn’t like the woman said anything specifically insulting and even if she had, Setsuka wasn’t a violent person.

 

“Calm down.” Cain instructed quietly, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

 

Setsu had turned to look at him when he moved suddenly but she turned again to glance at the woman who was now looking at her with wide, confused eyes.

 

“I-I’m sorry… Did I… Did I say something to offend you?” She stuttered, seemingly so genuinely confused that the anger in Setsu came rushing up to the surface again. Cain noticed her tense and clutched her hand tighter.

 

“Yes.” He stated simply, responding to the woman icily. She looked taken aback both by his bluntness and the response and opened her mouth to respond but after gaping like a fish for a few seconds she downed the rest of her drink and turned away from them.

 

 _Good_ , Setsu thought to herself as Cain pulled her closer to him. She wasn’t sure what would happen if that woman kept talking to her.

 

And although Cain was attempting to comfort her she knew he was frustrated and probably thinking for the millionth time since he agreed to it, seeing their parents was a bad idea.

 

o///o

 

The rest of the plane trip had been awkward, the tension stifling, and as expected Setsu hadn’t slept at all even though Cain had been in and out of sleep the entire time. It had been a relief to get up and stretch her legs after such a long flight and Cain, with his long legs, had shared a similar sentiment.

 

The time difference threw them for a loop since Japan was ahead by 9 hours and the flight had been 12 hours long, so it felt like the middle of the night even if it was only early in the evening.

 

Setsuka had expected him to bring up what happened on the plane but when he hadn’t even after they’d been riding in the cab for half an hour, she realized he wasn’t going to.

 

And that was fine. She didn’t know how to explain what came over her anyways. She’d chalked it up to being emotional about what was happening, and her nerves getting the best of her but all these hours after it happened the woman’s words were still replaying in her head and she couldn’t understand why it was bothering her so much.

 

But then Cain was telling their driver to “Stop here.” and she was looking up from her lap and looking at the slate grey and off white siding of her childhood home. When she was younger the house color had been more of a mint color but age and weathering had muted the brightness. Her heart skipped a beat and then kicked into overdrive as the gravity of the situation hit her with full force.

 

Cain threw the driver a few bills and then stepped out of the car, holding out his hand to help Setsu out after him.

 

The two stood staring at the house, the echoes of the past whispering to each sibling differently.

 

After a long minute, Cain stepped forward but paused when Setsuka didn’t move with him. He turned to look at her, concern written all over his face.

 

“Are you alright?” He asked, and then continued when she didn’t answer. “We don’t have to do this, you know. We can turn around right now and grab the next flight back to Tokyo.”

 

She shook her head slowly, staring at the cracks in the concrete below her feet.

 

“No… I… Need to do this.” Her voice was unsteady and she was trying to focus on taking even breaths to level out her heart rate.

 

Cain made an indignant noise and she snapped her head up to look at him.

 

“You don’t _need_ to, Setsu. You don’t _need_ to do anything.”

 

She disagreed. She had never needed to do anything so much in her life.

 

“I _want_ to.” She stated quietly, moreso reminding herself than speaking to Cain. Then she was walking ahead of him, facing the house straight on, and repeating that mantra to herself repeatedly to keep her legs moving.  

 

Cain followed behind her after a moment with a sigh and it was his hand that pounded against the wood of the door when she had stood there silently debating whether it would be better to ring the doorbell or knock.

 

The wait seemed like each second was a year passing and Setsuka had a million and one things running through her mind but when the door finally opened, spilling light out onto the darkening street, all thoughts fell away.

 

“Okaa-san!” Setsu cried, flinging her arms around the small woman.

 

Her mother let out a noise of surprise and when the initial shock had worn off she was clutching her daughter’s body tightly against herself, bringing a hand up to stroke Setsu’s hair.

 

“Setsuka?” She gasped, pulling away to look her daughter in the face.

 

“It’s me!” Setsu confirmed, a wide grin stretching her features beautifully. Her mother traced the features of her face with a hand, seemingly in utter disbelief.

 

“Wha-... Why…?” Then her mother was looking over her shoulder and looking at her son.

 

Setsuka let go and allowed the two of them to speak.

 

“Why didn’t you at least _tell me_ that you were coming, Cain?” She snapped, scowling at him in that familiar way she always did.

 

Cain shrugged. “You were the one who messaged me out of nowhere.”

 

“Yes, a _week_ ago. You’ve never responded to me in all this time so excuse me for assuming that it wouldn’t be any different this time.” She frowned, crossing her arms.

 

The two were silent for a moment before their mother sighed and the sound of relief when she opened her mouth again betrayed her irritation.

 

“Come here, you bloody _mendokusai_.” Cain had to bend down to hug her properly, although even to Setsu’s eyes it looked stiff and she knew they had more damage between them would never be solved with a simple conversation. But she was still his mother and even if Cain said she wasn’t family, Setsu didn’t miss the tender look the two shared when they separated.

 

But as soon as it happened it ended and their mother was turning around, looking not a day older than when they had left, and walking back into the house.

 

“Come on, I was just about to order some food.”

 

o///o

 

It had only been a little over a year since the siblings had left though it felt more like a decade, so it was jarring that everything in the house was about the same as they had left it. A little more messy than it had usually been, and some of the furniture had been moved around in a way that looked like it had been pushed to make a pathway for something which was odd.

 

Erika was ordering Italian food from a place up the road, rattling off much more food than Cain thought was even close to necessary but he didn’t bother with trying to convince her that they couldn’t eat that much. She had always done whatever she wanted, that was just her personality.

 

Cain and Setsu had opted to sitting on the stools situated around the island of the kitchen and each seemed lost in thought as they took in their familiar surroundings.

 

After a few minutes, Erika had finished her ridiculous long order and came into the kitchen, immediately reaching into a cabinet and pulling down a bottle of brandy.

 

“Do you want any?” She offered, pulling out a glass from another cabinet and filling it with ice before pouring herself some of the amber liquid

 

Both siblings answered similarly at the same time.

 

Erika looked between them, giving Setsuka an especially long look, but turned around after a moment repeating the process, pausing when Cain asked her to hold the ice with his, and then served the two of them.

Cain watched as Setsuka downed nearly half of the drink in a single swallow, opting not to comment on it as he sipped on his own drink.

 

“So…” Erika began awkwardly after a moment had passed. “Where have the two of you been?”

 

“Japan.” Cain answered, gruffly, taking another swig of his drink.

 

Erika’s eyebrows raised in surprise and Cain would never understand why she always looked the exact same, never aging a day in all the twenty two years that he’d seen her face.

 

“Japan…” She mused. “What were you doing all the way over there?”

 

“Cain acts.” Setsuka piped up, most of her earlier enthusiasm gone, but she was still happy to be able to talk to her mother, not matter how terrible of a mother she was.

 

Erika looked incredibly confused by that, taking a thoughtful sip of her drink as she looked at Cain quizzically

 

“As in… you’re an actor? In Japan? You, who doesn’t speak Japanese?” She asked, with a smirk.

 

Cain rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t my intention. I just got an offer to act in a Japanese movie that Setsu wouldn’t let me decline. I was acting _here_ first.”  

 

“... I wasn’t aware that you were into acting.” Erika responded, sounding genuinely surprised.

 

Cain had to bite his tongue to keep from telling her that she didn’t know anything at all about him and managed to mutter, “It’s a job. I’m good at it.”

 

Setsu, likely sensing the rising tension in the room, decided to speak up.

 

“Nii-san is _really_ good. He just got a role in a big movie with one of Japan’s biggest actors.”

 

“Did he?” Erika echoed in a way that managed to sound both disinterested and interested at the same time. “And what have _you_ been doing Setsuka?”

 

The sudden subject change caught his sister off-guard and she hesitated a bit before responding.

 

“Finishing school.” Cain noticed that she glanced at him before turning her full attention to her mother with a smile. “I've been going to school here in England while Cain works in Japan but I've got an acting job myself so I might have to finish school over there.”

 

A shadow of something that looked like it might have been pride fell over Erika’s face but Cain had never seen such an expression on her face so he couldn’t tell if that’s actually what it was.

 

“I’m glad,” She said, a small smiling stretching her face. “That’s more than I can say for myself.”

 

They fell into silence, the weight of the gap between them glaringly obvious now that they had seemed to catch up with everything that had happened over the past year.

 

Cain could see Setsu out of the corner of his eye and she was chewing on her lip anxiously and staring into her empty glass like it might start talking to her at any moment.

“U-um…” She fumbled, looking up at Erika and then seemingly losing her nerve and going back to staring into the glass. “Is Da-... is Owen… W-where is he?”

 

Cain stiffened at the mention of him and he could see that Erika froze mid-sip with her drink raised to her lips.

 

The tension in the kitchen multiplied exponentially.

 

“Owen?” Erika echoed dumbly, as if she had no idea who Setsu was talking about.

 

“My dad?” Setsuka clarified, even though she didn’t need to. “Where is he?”

 

Erika fixed Cain with a hard look at the familial title and he met her eyes with an equally displeased expression. She rolled her eyes when Cain refused to give in and turned her attention back to her daughter.

 

“He’s here.” Erika sighed. “And he’s not going anywhere either.”

 

Setsu frowned. “What do you mean?”

 

Their mother swirled her drink around in her glass absentmindedly. “He’s been bedridden ever since they released him from the hospital,”

 

“Some of his ribs were fractured and a couple of them broke inward which punctured his lung.” She glanced at Cain then and he tried not to read anything in her expression. “Which caused it to collapse. Not to mention he apparently has hemophilia so they can’t operate on the lung properly or they risk him bleeding to death. And he very nearly did after the incident. Still can’t get the blood out of the damn floors…”

 

Setsu’s eyes were blown wide and her mouth had dropped open when Erika had trailed off. He couldn’t really sympathize or even imagine what she must have been feeling. All Cain felt was a deep set irritation that he hadn’t properly finished the job. Maybe if he had they’d have had no reason to ever come back here. Just being within these walls brought on too many bad memories, too much history, and everything reminded him of all the different ways he had failed the ones that he cared about.

 

“W-what…?” Setsuka began, having trouble finding her voice. “Shouldn’t he still be in the hospital then?”

 

“No. The doctor discharged him and said he would be more comfortable in his home. He has a breathing tube hooked up to him as well as an IV and a bunch of other things for when his lung collapses- which it’s going to keep doing because they can’t operate on it. He has an in-home nurse that takes care of most of it, she just left not too long ago.”

 

Cain narrowed his eyes. Something about what Erika had just said wasn’t right, _“he would be more comfortable_ ”, and no mention of recovery. And as he thought over it more, he realized that Owen _wasn’t_ going to recover. They had sent him home instead of keeping him in the hospital because he was dying and he likely had a limited number of lung collapses left before his body couldn’t handle it anymore. That was probably why he wanted to see Setsuka.

 

Speaking of, his sister looked pale as if she had just seen a ghost. Cain found himself hoping that she hadn’t come to the same mental conclusion as he had.

 

But her voice was determined, though shaky, when she asked, “Can I see him?”

 

On instinct, Cain wanted to disagree immediately but he managed to bite back the words on his tongue when he reminded himself that the whole reason they came was so that she could see him, not matter how much Cain didn’t want her to.

 

“I’m not sure if he’s awake.” Erika responded hesitantly, “But he’s in his office, we had to convert it into a spare bedroom. Too much of a hassle if he had to be rushed to the hospital from the second floor.”

 

Setsuka muttered an “okay”, and then she was sliding down out of her stool and walking out of the kitchen. Cain followed after her and when Setsu realized he had also gotten up her expression was troubled when she looked at him.

 

“No, Cain.” Was all she said. He frowned.

 

“I’m coming _with you_.” He announced angrily.

 

Setsu shook her head. “ _No_. I don’t want you to. I want to talk with him alone.”

 

Cain frowned, looking at her with a mixture of confusion and shock. “What the fuck? _No._ Why the hell would I let you talk to that man alone!? After what he did to you, are you serious? Stop being ridiculous Setsu, I’m coming with you.”

 

Erika surprised them both by speaking up behind them.

 

“He’s not in any position to do any of the things you’re thinking of Cain. Let her go. He just wants to talk and he can only _barely_ do that.”

The two siblings looked at their mother and then each other in a silent standoff.

 

Everything in Cain’s body was telling him to go with her, to protect her from that man, that something would happen if he let her out of his sight for even a second in this god forsaken house. He couldn’t bear the thought, panic gripping his chest like a vice.

 

But Setsu was begging him with her eyes to let her do it. And he had always been weak to that.

 

His acquiescence must have shown on his face because Setsu was giving him a small smile and assuring him that she would be fine, and then she was walking away in the direction of the office.

 

After a long moment of his eyes lingering on the spot she was just standing and wondering if he would have to add this moment to his list of regrets he turned slowly and was facing Erika again.

 

“You didn’t tell her?” She was asking, an annoyed expression on her face.

 

Cain rolled his eyes, moving back to his seat. “No, I didn’t fucking tell her.”

 

“ _Why not_ ?” Erika snapped, though she was pouring vodka into both of their glasses. “All the things I did for you in this huge mess that _you_ made and you can’t even do the single thing that I asked you!?”

 

Annoyance bordering on anger was flaring up inside of him and the anxiety he felt over letting Setsu be in that same room with that man alone for the first time in over a year was only adding fire to the flame.

 

“The mess that _I_ made?” He shot back incredulously. “ _You’re_ the one that decided to date a fucking pedofile and not do anything when he was raping your daughter! The daughter that you didn’t even fucking want that _I_  had to raise. All I’ve ever fucking done in my life is take responsibility for _your_ mistakes. So, sorry if I don’t any much sympathy for you having to actually take on that responsibility for once. I’m not telling her that he’s not her father, that’s your problem.”

 

The two glared at each other and Cain actually felt relieved that he was able to say something like that to her face. It was truly how he felt and he had held a deep resentment for her all of these years. He had no friends at the start of his life because all of the kids around him were told not to talk to him because his mother was a known prostitute; he didn’t, and probably would never, know who his father was; he been Setsuka’s primary caretaker since Erika wanted as little to do with her as possible and Owen was always working; he had been jumped by a group of kids when he was thirteen because Erika had slept with one of their fathers and the kids mother had found out; and he had to take care of the pedofile she was dating himself because she wouldn’t do anything about it.

He had felt relief… but when he really looked at Erika her expression was hard but her eyes looked like they were brimming with unshed tears and it sent a wave of shock through him.

 

Cain had never seen her cry in all the years he’d been alive. Her emotional spectrum was even more limited than his was and she basically stayed either annoyed or apathetic with an occasional laugh or smile but he count those occasions on one hand. He had _never_ seen her look sad.

 

“I’m sorry...” She muttered, dropping her gaze and staring at the countertop instead. “I’m a horrible mother, I already told you that. I don’t know how to do this and nobody ever taught me or helped me. I didn’t know how to fix my mistakes so I didn’t try.” A tear ran down the slope of her nose and splashed on the marble.

 

“B-but I’m… _proud of you_ , Cain.”

 

His eyes widened in surprise. That was the last thing he had expected to ever hear from her mouth. Several different confusing and conflicting emotions were running through him, rendering him speechless.

 

She lifted her head and fixed him with a tender expression, wiping away the tears running down her face quickly.

 

“I know that I didn’t raise you well, so I also know that everything you’ve accomplished you had to do on your own. You’re not… perfect. But you also haven’t ruined your life and I’m _proud_ that the two of you are doing better than I ever did. I’m glad that you were strong enough to do it on your own.”

 

Cain still didn’t know what to say. Her words didn’t change anything, didn’t change the resentment, the past, or their estrangement. But something deep inside of him appreciated it, felt minutely better because of it, and he didn’t know what to do about that.

 

Instead, he swallowed thickly, and opted to change the subject.

 

“Are you still working?”

 

Erika frowned at the change of subject but it was obvious that she was also appreciative of it, having just been emotional for the first time in his life.

 

“Of course I'm still working.” She snapped. “The only other person I could count on for support is bedridden and dying. Do you think this is a great time for me to stop, Cain?”

 

Some things never changed; and as usual his mother was every bit defensive of her work as she had always been.

 

He sighed. “You should have stopped years ago. Aren’t you tired of selling your body to men who talk shit about you the next day?”

 

Her eyes narrowed and her expression became stony and unreadable.

 

“None of my clients speak ill of me. I've been doing this for a long time, I'm good at what I do.”

 

Cain grimaced. “I did not need to hear that and you know that's not what I meant.”

 

Erika looked as indignant as a child who was just scolded when she glared at him.

 

“My body is the only good quality that I have. I've never worked a proper job in my life and I dropped out of school as soon as I was legally allowed to. I'm useless, Cain, I feel useful when I'm working.” She was quiet after that and Cain didn't know how to respond to the constant spewing of emotions and feelings tonight.

 

They were both silent for a long time after that and Cain found his mind wandering to Setsu every few seconds. She'd been in there with Owen for a while and he couldn't help but obsessively wonder what it was that they were talking about. What they were **doing** …

 

Cain was aware of the cancerous thoughts multiplying in his brain and how unlikely any of the scenarios playing out in his eyes were but this house was just… it was a special type of hell that he had never wanted to be in again.

 

“Why didn't you do anything?” He found himself saying, more out of the swell of resentment rising up in him again rather than wanting to know the answer, she had already told him after all.

 

Erika sighed in a way that made her sound completely exhausted and weary and Cain almost felt bad for asking.

 

She didn't even bother asking what he was talking about.

 

“I already told you. Owen could give you everything that I couldn't.”

 

“So, you prioritized me over your only daughter?” He spat viciously.

 

“Of course not!” Erika seethed. “I could barely support the two of us let alone another baby all by myself, I needed help!”

 

“I could have gotten a job, a **real** job!” Cain argued. “I would do anything for Setsu, you know that! We could have left him at any point!”

 

Erika’s face crumpled at that and if Cain didn't know any better he would have thought she was about to start sobbing. But she didn't. Her eyes welled up with tears but none fell.

 

“I didn't _know_ he was like that until the night you left. I had my suspicions for a while but I figured that you wouldn't hesitate to tell me if you knew. But you obviously didn't see it either.” She glared at him and he felt a rush of familiar guilt wash over him. “I never loved Owen, and to be quite honest I can't stand him most of the time, but I put up with him for the two of you. So that you could have what you wanted and go to nice schools and not be so embarrassed by me.”

 

“I'm sorry.” Erika concluded, meaningfully. “I know that I can never say it enough to make a difference but _I'm sorry_.”

 

“Yeah.” Cain muttered. It didn't make him feel better and it didn't fix anything but at least he could somewhat understand how all of their lives had gotten so fucked up.

 

The two somberly sipped on the remnants of their drinks as time continued to pass and finally after what felt like- and very well could have been- hours, Setsu finally returned to the kitchen.

 

Cain heard her approaching footsteps and looked up long before she actually appeared and though he searched her face immediately for any sign of what kind of conversation she had had with Owen her face was completely devoid of any telling emotions.

 

“...Are you okay?” He asked instead, voice carefully even in case she wasn’t actually as fine as she seemed.

 

But Setsu just smiled thinly and nodded. “I’m fine.”

 

Cain frowned, she certainly didn’t seem fine but she didn’t seem particularly upset. In fact, she seemed strangely apathetic considering that she had just spoken with the man that repeatedly sexually abused her for the majority of her life. Someone she _thought_ was her father.

 

“Um…” She spoke after a long silence, looking at Cain as though she wanted to say something but was extremely hesitant about saying it.

 

“What?” He prompted impatiently.

 

“He… He said he wants to talk to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all the feedback and love, it means a lot and I'm really happy that this story is able to be loved <3 
> 
> I think it's safe to say that at this point we're about halfway done. I know that might shock some of you but I never intended for this to be a very long story. I'm still trying to figure out how I'd like it to end so that's why I'm not sure how much longer that'll be but we're definitely in the "climax" area of the story. The main conflict, if you will. 
> 
> Also- because although I tried very hard to communicate this well but still don't feel like I did- the anger that Setsu is feeling is similar to this: Imagine you're very good friends with someone of the opposite gender and you do everything together, completely inseparable, and totally platonic towards each other. Now imagine everyone you know teasing you about dating each other and being in love even if you don't see it. You would be upset, thinking something like "we're just friends, why do we have to be more than that?" now imagine being badgered by that line of questioning for years. That's as well as I can describe it. 
> 
> Really looking forward to the next chapter, I have some big plans. ;) Coming soon! Happy Holidays to everyone in the meantime!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaack! I know it probably doesn't seem like I went anywhere and instead just broke my good update schedule streak but I actually took a month off from writing. Not entirely on purpose it just kind of happened that way. I was intending to post this chapter around Christmas and honestly before the start of the year I had everything but the last scene written, haha. I probably would have finished it but I actually was sick before Christmas, went on a short vacation, and then got sick again. Most of this was written on my phone in a hotel room. Sorry for leaving you guys on a cliffhanger! Can't promise a great update schedule still but I hope that everyone has been having a better January than me :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings:
> 
> Strong Language
> 
> Mentions of Death
> 
> Mentions of Rape
> 
> Mention of inappropriate/incestual relationship with minor

"He wants to talk to me?" Cain echoed incredulously.

"Yeah." Setsu answered quietly.

He scoffed, completely dumbfounded by the strange request.

"You can tell him to fuck off." He growled.

"Cain-!" Setsu cried.

"No, Setsu!" He snapped harshly. "I think that you're forgetting the last time I was in the same room as him I almost killed him. Did it ever occur to you that those feelings haven't gone anywhere?"

He shouldn't have said that. He knew he would regret saying it as soon as the words came out of his mouth. The reality of what he did had been weighing over the three of them all night and everyone had smartly decided not to bring up the attempted murder. But that's what it was- an attempted murder. And if Cain had gotten his way it wouldn't have the word "attempted" in front of it. Now neither of the women standing in the kitchen with him would meet his gaze.

He sighed in frustration and tried to think of something to say that would soften the tension but Setsu beat him to it.

"Do it for me." She asked quietly, eyes trained on the floor and something about her body language was resigned… defeated.

It was then that he realized what had her acting so strange and apathetic when she had returned from the kitchen. Seeing Owen like that must have made her fully realize that he was going to die. And it was Cain's fault.

He opened his mouth and then closed it again several times before realizing that there was nothing he could say. No excuse he could make, no reason to give, no explanation to say. Owen was going to die soon and it was his fault and even if he was happy with that, Setsu wasn't and he felt guilt for the first time over what he did. It was as if she was saying in his mind "it's the least you could do." And it was.

Cain sighed again.

"Fine." He agreed. Besides if the fucker said something he didn't like he could always rip the breathing tube out of his body and claim an accident.

He could feel Erika's eyes on him and he turned to face her. Her jaw clenched when he turned and she pursed her lips as if she wanted to say something but couldn't force it out of her mouth. Eventually she seemed to settle for a nod of her head.

Cain didn't really understand what that was supposed to mean but he turned back around and laid a hand on Setsu's shoulder reassuringly as he passed.

He really hoped Owen wouldn't piss him off.

* * *

The hallway outside of the bedroom-converted office was dark and distantly it occured to Cain that he had rarely been inside when he had lived here. He preferred to avoid Owen as much as possible so unless there was good reason he'd rarely ever been down this hallway. Cain also realized that he was hesitating by thinking of stupid shit like that and with a huff, he pushed the door open.

The room inside was only moderately brighter, lightened by the moon shining in through the open curtains. Cain's eyes fell on the still figure on the bed in the middle of the room, scanning the tubes and wires connected to his body and following them to the whirring and beeping machines around him.

No wonder Setsu was so sullen.

Seeing someone who was the picture of health before diminished to this was shocking even for him. He, of course, wouldn't say aloud that a rush of satisfaction filled him at the sight.

"Cain?" A croaky and wheezy voice whispered into the quiet of the room. "Is that you?"

Cain spotted a chair in the corner of the room and dragged it over to the door, taking a seat with a sigh and staring into the green eyes searching for him in the darkness of the room.

"Yup." He stated simply. He was only here to be talked to, he had nothing at all to say Owen.

The blonde man struggled to sit up further in the bed to see him over the frame of the bed. Something that he wouldn't have had to do if the chair had stayed in its original place, Cain tried not to smirk at that. He failed.

"I didn't think…" Owen wheezed a bit, taking in a few deep breaths as he got into a comfortable position against the headrest. "That you'd really come."

Cain shifted, placing his right leg on top of his left knee. "Trust me, it wasn't in my plans."

They were quiet for a long time and Cain was growing frustrated, wondering if Owen really did want to talk to him or just guilt trip him by seeing first-hand what he had done.

"Setsu convinced you then?" Owen croaked out, finally.

Cain's eyes, which had been focused on the strange dent in the foot of the bedframe, rose immediately- meeting the shine of Owen's eyes from across the room.

"Don't call her that." Cain snarled, red hot fury washing over him and for the umpteenth time he wished that he had crushed Owen's face in with the bottom of his shoe when he'd had the chance. It wasn't too late.

"Did she?" Owen asked again, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Cain scowled at his tone but answered anyways. "Of course, she did. Why in the hell would I ever want to see you again?"

"Maybe to apologize?" Owen snapped, the bite of the words not having as much of an impact when he sounded like that annoying woman on the smoking commercials with the voice box in her throat. "Do you feel even a little bit of guilt for what you did?"

This was a bad idea. Why did he ever agree to this? The same red hot anger he had felt the last time he saw Owen was returning and the burning in Cain's chest wouldn't go away so long as they were in the same room together. It would be so easy to just unplug one of these machines, he doubted Owen could even manage to scream for help.

"Do you?" Cain snapped in return, voice low with anger.

Owen was silent.

Cain scoffed, standing up. Evidently, Owen had nothing intelligent to say to him and he wasn't going to sit here and be apart of this stupid conversation.

"You need to leave her alone." The blonde spoke quickly, tone a mix between warning and threat. Cain slowly turned back around.

"What?" He cut, the edge in his voice enough to cause bleeding.

"Setsuka. You need to leave her alone." Owen clarified.

Cain cocked his head in confusion as if he really couldn't understand what was being said to him. And truly he didn't understand the fucking words coming out of Owen's mouth.

"I need to leave her alone?" Cain echoed incredulously. "And… And what? Leave her here with you two? In case you're forgetting she's my sister. I practically raised her and you want me to leave her alone?"

"Yes." Owen agreed sternly.

Cain wanted to laugh. What the actual fuck? Did they have Owen on some sort of loopy medication that made him incoherent or out of touch with reality?

"I'm not totally sure you're aware of what you're saying so I'm gonna humor you for a minute and ask why?"

"I know…" Owen said and wheezed violently. "I know what I'm saying. You need to leave Setsuka alone. You're bad for her. We both are."

Cain narrowed his eyes. "I raised her. I took her away from a sexually abusive household. I'm making sure she finishes school. I'm providing for her and keeping a roof over her head that doesn't leak whenever some cunt flushes the toilet above her. And I'm bad for her?"

He had never been so motherfucking offended in whole god damn life. The actual people who conceived Setsu put less effort forth in her life and he had done nothing but take care of her and the nerve of them. Both Owen and Erika were so fucking ungrateful. He didn't have to do shit, he could have joined some bullshit gang and gotten himself arrested and then what would they have done? What would they have done?

I want to see our family, Setsu had said. Some fucking family.

"That's great that you did that Cain. It really is. But it's time to let her go." Owen said, adjusting his tone so that his words came out carefully. Not patronizing, but careful.

Cain was grinding his teeth together and wished he had a cigarette instead of the empty space between the teeth. He kicked out suddenly, sending the chair he had been sitting on toppling over with a loud crash on the hardwood floors.

He stepped forward, bracing his hands on the foot of the bedframe and leaned over it, looking directly at Owen.

"Shut the fuck up with this "let her go" bullshit! I'm her brother. Her actual blood relative and the only one in this joke of a family who gives even the tiniest of shits about her! I'm not letting her go anywhere without me!"

Owen shook his head and Cain wanted to wring his neck.

"You and me… we're not so different, Cain."

"I'm nothing like you." Cain spat viciously.

Owen made a strangled sound that sounded like a mix between a cough and a laugh. "You may have raised Setsu but I raised you."

Cain clenched his jaw. He wanted to argue that but Owen was more of a parent than his own mother had been; and he'd packed him lunch, and drove him to school, and helped him with his homework, and took him and his mom out of that dingy apartment with the rats, and he had actually been happy.

"What you did to her was disgusting." He said, instead. "You're disgusting and I am nothing like you."

Owen seemed to think about this for a moment as if mulling over what to say, he turned and looked outside the open window, at the moon shining blue light into the room and when he turned back to face Cain his eyes were hard.

"Have you kissed her?"

Cain could feel the corner of his mouth twitch up and his nose crinkle as he snarled with distaste.

"Family kiss each other all the time. What you did? Having her call you daddy when she put her mouth around-" Cain huffed, unable to finish the sentence.

"Yes. Relatives peck each other on the cheek and the lips. But have you kissed her?" Owen took a deep breath to give himself enough air to finish the question. "Has your tongue been in her mouth? Has her's been in yours?"

"No." Cain denied quickly, too quickly. He was lying.

And Owen knew it.

"How far have you gone with her?" He wheezed. "Probably not too far, it hasn't been that long. But it's hard for you to stop, isn't it? She's so innocent she doesn't even know what she's doing but you keep leaning in. Wanting more… taking more… and you want to keep her to yourself. Nobody else deserves her, not even you but you-"

"SHUT UP!" Cain roared, flinching from the words as if they had physically hurt him and in some way they had, flung at him like acid and burned into his skin. It hurt to listen to Owen speak and have it feel like it was his own brain's words. It felt like he had been pretending to be clean and all of his filth was suddenly visible and on display and he hated it.

He hated everything about Owen, everything he stood for, everything he did, everything he said, everything Cain had in common with him. He hated that Owen would always be a part of him whether he liked it or not, would always be his father whether he liked it or not because he had no other one.

"You're disgusting." Cain spat. Literally spat and droplets of saliva darkened the light beige of the comforter.

Owen let out another sound that was half cough, half laugh and Cain was beginning to hate how condescending that sound was.

"And you're her actual brother." He sighed, shifting in the bed again. "I'm not even her real father, we have no relation whatsoever. Who's the disgusting one here?"

Disgusting? Was it really…?

Cain squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to calm down and shove those thoughts away. He wouldn't let Owen rattle him so much.

"You…" He ground out, eyes still closed. "Are a pedofile. How long were you touching her before I found out?"

Owen was silent for a long second and the sound of the beeping and whirring of the machines were starting to give Cain a headache.

"... Last time I checked she was still underage. And both of us were grown men."

Cain's knuckles were going white where he clutched desperately onto the wooden frame of the bed. He didn't know what would happen if he let go of it.

"She's my sister." He whispered, as if that would somehow justify his actions. As if it would prove that he was different, that he was better.

But it sounded damning even in his ears.

Owen shifted again on the bed, the rustling of the sheets unnaturally loud in the quiet of the room.

"This is why you need to let her go." Another wheezy intake of breath. "I apologized to her. Told her that my going out of her life is the best thing that could happen to her. We both smother her so much and she's so bright. So beautiful. She deserves better than living in our shadows."

"Stop talking about her like that, you piece of shit." Cain growled. His eyes were stinging and he was focusing incredibly hard on not letting the wetness behind them out.

"I'm sure I'm only saying what you're thinking, Cain."

Cain opened his eyes, despite the wetness forming behind them and looked straight at Owen in the darkness of the room.

"I could kill you. It would be so easy to just unplug one of these machines and then I'd never have to see your fucking face again." He stated poisonously, hellfire raging in his eyes.

"You could." Owen agreed. "And I almost wish you would. Setsu would hate you if you did."

And just like that the hellfire was put out and Cain was defeated, tired, and drained emotionally. It had only been a few hours and he was already sick of this stupid house and it's stupid rooms and the stupid people that lived inside of it.

He nodded. Once, twice, and then a third time seemingly to himself. He lifted his hands from the bedframe and stood up straight.

"I hope you suffer." Was all he could say before he reopened the door to the room and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

Cain took a moment to breathe and rid his face of any telling emotions before he headed back into the kitchen.

Erika and Setsu looked up as he entered, ending whatever conversation they had been having.

"...You talked to him?" Setsu cautiously asked, and of course he did- where else had he been for god knows how long?

"Yeah." Cain answered gruffly, shuffling over to the cabinet he had seen Erika take the vodka down from and locating his glass that was still on the counter.

He knew the two of them were watching him as he wordlessly poured himself a shot, then gulped it down like it was water and he knew they were still watching him when he did it again another four times.

When he deemed his senses dull enough not to the feel the pressing weight on his heart from the realizations he had come to, he put the vodka back in the cabinet, and washed out his glass in the sink.

"I'm going to bed." He muttered, picking up his bag from the front door and walking up the stairs to his old bedroom.

* * *

The bedroom hadn't changed and all of his belongings were still there, so other than the neatness of the room it was just the way he had left it.

He hated it.

With a sigh deeper than any man his age should be making he set his bag down and stripped down to a t-shirt and boxers, not even bothering to get out the pajamas he had packed and climbed into bed.

It still smelled like the cologne he used to wear.

He hated that too.

Sleep overtook him easily, exhaustion pressing down on him as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Though he wasn't asleep for long when he awoke to a gentle knocking on his door. Even now old habits died hard and he had left his door half closed so it wasn't that surprising when a blonde head stepped into the room.

"Nii-san?" She whispered in the darkness.

The familiar nickname sent an unpleasant and deep throb through Cain's chest before settling in his gut uncomfortably.

"Are you awake?" She asked, creeping closer.

Cain inhaled a loud breath and sat up to show that he was. Setsu stopped midstep and found his eyes in the darkness. She looked awkward… nervous almost and Cain didn't understand why.

"What is it?" He asked, voice husky with sleep.

She fidgeted, looking around the room instead of at him though he was sure she couldn't really see anything in the darkness.

"Um… my room. I can't… I can't sleep in there."

Cain sleepily rubbed his eyes, his mind was hazy since he had been sleeping so deeply and though he felt like he shouldn't ask, he did anyways.

"Why not?"

Setsu looked even more nervous when he asked the question. But she almost looked like she was frowning in the darkness as if she was annoyed.

"B-because the carpet is still stained with blood and it smells like disinfectant. Can I sleep in here? Please?"

His immediate instinct was to say no, the last thing he wanted right now was to be in close quarters with her. And he didn't know if he could handle waking up in the morning to her kissing him.

But then what she said dawned on him and guilt stabbed at him yet again and he knew he couldn't ask her to sleep in her room anyways.

Wordlessly he climbed out of bed and motioned for her to get in. She mumbled a "thanks" under her breath as she got in and Cain got in after her.

As they settled in, her socked foot brushed against his bare leg and they both stiffened.

Cain moved as close to the edge of the bed as possible and tried to ignore that a week ago he would have turned towards her at the slight touch and buried his face in her hair.

They were quiet for a while and Cain thought she had fallen asleep so he was surprised when he heard her speak suddenly.

"What did you talk to him about?" She asked quietly, hesitantly.

The question startled Cain and he responded immediately, scared that even though she asked, she somehow knew exactly what Owen had said to him.

"Nothing."

Silence. Cain felt the need to fill it.

"What did you talk to him about?"

"... Nothing." Setsu answered quietly. Cain didn't have it in him to push the issue.

They went back to their silence.

Cain couldn't help but feel like even though they were lying next to each other in the same bed they had never felt further apart.

o/o

When Cain woke up the room was still dark and it occurred to him that he had no idea what time it had been when he went to bed.

Setsu was still sleeping with her back to him. Which he was immensely grateful for.

He crawled out of the bed quietly, moving slowly so as not to wake her.

Waking up in this house was a very unpleasant feeling and the last thing he wanted was to go downstairs and make breakfast for himself and Setsu as if everything went back to the way it was.

Absolutely not.

So he grabbed some clothes out of his bag and headed into the bathroom to shower and freshen up.

When he walked out of the bathroom it had only gotten slightly brighter, the orange hues of the sun just now filtering through the windows. Cain debated checking if Setsu was awake but if she was she would want to go with him and he honestly just wanted to be alone for a bit.

So, he headed downstairs. But as he approached the front door he heard noises from the kitchen.

Frowning, he paused.

Even if Erika hadn't worked last night she was never up this early in the morning and she definitely wasn't doing anything in the kitchen either.

He walked towards the sound slowly. As he approached the kitchen he saw a woman bent over the stove. She seemed to be cooking a pot of something and hadn't heard him approach.

He decided to watch her until she noticed him.

He'd never seen her before so he guessed that she was the nurse Erika had mentioned.

That said, she was much younger than he expected. She was wearing the typical nurse scrubs but the healthy brown curls of her hair and small figure suggested she couldn't be that much older than him.

And then she turned to grab a bowl from the cabinet. She got the bowl down fine but as she closed the cabinet door she must have saw his figure from the corner of her eye. She yelped and promptly dropped the bowl, causing it to shatter into pieces on the ground.

She glanced down at it but her eyes stayed fixed on him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.

The woman scoffed. "Standing there silently watching me as if you're a killer in a horror movie doesn't exactly lead me to believe you."

Cain smirked. "Yeah… sorry."

She shook her head and knelt down to pick up the pieces of glass. Cain walked over to help her since it was mostly his fault.

"So, you're Owen's nurse?" He asked, throwing the shards he picked up into the trash.

"Yes, I am. My name is Natalie." The woman answered, pulling down another bowl. She shot him an inquisitive glance. "Who are you?"

Cain leaned against the counter watching as she spooned porridge into the bowl.

"I'm Erika's son. Cain."

Natalie frowned at him but moved to the pantry, grabbing a package of raisins and a bottle of syrup.

"She never mentioned having kids. But then again I rarely ever see her."

She poured in some raisins and the syrup in a swirl pattern. Then she glanced at Cain again and motioned to the porridge.

"I have to go feed this to him now so…"

"Right." Cain nodded, hoping she would mess up and Owen would choke to death on it. "Well my sister is still upstairs sleeping. As a warning."

Natalie smiled. "Thank you. Wouldn't want to be scared half to death again. Nice meeting you, Cain."

And then she was fishing a spoon out of a drawer and walking towards the bedroom.

o/o

Although Cain had left the house, he didn't really have an idea of where he wanted to go. The air was chilly but not quite cold and therefore perfect for walking, so that's exactly what he did.

The streets were still familiar to him and brought an odd sense of nostalgia as he walked past old landmarks and corner shops. He didn't really have a destination in mind when he set out walking but after a while he realized that he was automatically walking towards the old part of town where he used to spend most of his time.

The last time he had been down that way his whole life had changed.

The sun had come out completely by now and the bright light shining on the graffiti tagged buildings and dusty windows of abandoned warehouses looked wrong.

Cain had hardly ever been there in the daytime so to see it shining in the light was ominous. Like a forest with oversaturated neon colors. Disturbing.

With a shake of his head, Cain kept walking, deciding to stop at a mom and pop diner on the way back and get something to eat. Setsu was probably up and wondering where he went off to by now anyways.

Then an all too familiar voice called out behind him.

"Cain Heel is that you?"

Cain turned around immediately, not believing what he was hearing even though he had no doubt as to who the voice belonged to.

And though he knew who was behind him it was still a shock to the see the scruffy beard, shoulder length black hair, and green eyes staring back at him.

"I'll be damned. It is you." Sam grinned, coming to a stop in front of him. "I'd recognize that gloomy ass figure of yours anywhere."

It was if Cain's body moved of its own volition and his fist was rushing forward, swinging with his full body weight and all of that force was stunted as it collided with the palm of Sam's hand rather than his smirking face. .

Sam was standing close now, leaning forward so he could speak into Cain's ear.

"You don't want to do that." He warned, squeezing Cain's fist tighter in his hand.

"You're right." Cain hissed. "I want to strangle you with my own two hands and watch the life fade from your fucking eyes you c-"

"A lot has changed since you left, Cain." Sam interrupted, mirth dancing in his eyes as he watched Cain struggle. "There are a lot of people this side of town that don't really like you. And by that, I mean they want you dead and hurting me gives them a perfect excuse. And that's not even counting those that would upset if you hit me." He squeezed the fist harder, nearly crushing the bones in Cain's hand. "Don't."

Cain wasn't an idiot. He knew he had plenty of enemies in this side of town and that's why he hadn't planned on going anywhere near it.

With a huff he wrenched his hand out of Sam's grasp.

The older man smiled again, the signature smirk that Cain had grown to hate with every fiber of his being.

"Let's go get some tea and catch up."

* * *

Somehow Cain ends up sitting across from Sam in a rather busy coffee shop.

Cain's glaring so hard his eyebrows are starting to hurt and Sam hasn't stopped smirking since he's seen him. He even has the gall to order them both coffee, Americano for him and regular black for Cain.

Cain thinks he'd rather pour the burning hot liquid on Sam's head than drink it.

"So…" Sam finally says after they've been doing nothing but sitting and looking at each other for a whole five minutes. "What has the great Cain Heel been up to these days?"

Cain doesn't respond.

"I haven't seen you in London since your old man got-"

"He's not my father." Cain is quick to correct.

Sam's smirk dissolves into a quick but obviously amused laugh.

"Right- sorry." He apologizes and it sounds anything but sincere. "Since your mum's sugar daddy got hospitalized in that robbery. Really unfortunate about that, crazy what people will stoop to for money." Sam leaned closer to Cain and lowered his voice, glancing around the coffee shop.

"Funny thing is- I've asked around about it with the people I know and nobody seems to know who did it. Which is strange, because surely someone would know." He cocked his head and looked at Cain for a long moment.

He could already tell what this was, Sam was just fucking with him, playing with his food before he ate it. He'd known the man too long to fall for it, back when they were friends Cain spent a lot of time with Sam when he wasn't with Wes and before that had happened Cain had even thought that he knew the man well.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about it would you, Cain?" Sam asked, overly fake concern coating his rough voice. "Seeing as it happened in your house and all."

"No, I don't. Owen isn't pressing charges so the police aren't investigating." Cain answered without hesitation. He already knew this game. Sam already knew it who the culprit was, he was just trying to see if he could get under Cain's skin by holding it over his head.

Sam threw his head back and laughed drawing the attention of the patrons around them. He sighed, running a hand threw his hair and grinning.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid. The first time I saw you fight, I was amazed, I want to say I ain't never seen anything like it but back when I lived in the good ol' states there was boy, probably a bit younger than you and he fought as if it was the only thing that gave him joy. Real crazy kid, think his name might have been Brian. He killed my sister's boyfriend. An accident or something. I think he got hit by a car while the two of them were arguing."

Cain's felt like it had reversed sending ice from his feet up to his chest and he clenched his fists in an attempt to not wrap his fingers around the neck in front of him.

Sam seemed to notice the sudden raise of tension. He smirked, and Cain felt every muscle in his body go rigid with the effort to stay still.

"Wow, what a small world. Isn't that exactly like what happened with you and-"

"Shut the fuck up." Cain seethed, digging his fingers hard enough into his palm to draw blood.

Sam made a face of mock surprise and raised an eyebrow.

"But that's the main reason I wanted to catch up with you. You've been gone God knows where so I doubt you've heard about what happened to him. Right?"

Cain stilled, not realizing he'd pushed all of his anxiety, and worry, and fear over his best friend's condition until it was brought up and he couldn't control the widening of his eyes or drop of his mouth knowing that Sam knew how Wes was and he didn't. Cain didn't even know if he survived the car accident.

"That's what I thought." Sam continued. "Wesley is more of a trooper than I gave him credit for, he was hospitalized for a good while but he was released about a month and a half ago."

"So he's-" Cain attempted to ask since Sam was being so vague about it but Sam just kept talking as if Cain hadn't said anything in the first place.

"But the stupid fucker overdosed two weeks after he was let out. Of course his parents don't want anyone knowing that so they just said he died of complications from the accident but," Sam laughed lowly. "One of my boys found him in an alleyway and was tempted to just throw him in the trash and be done with it. Really, I imagine he couldn't deal with his sister's death and knowing that his best friend caused it."

The chair screeched loudly on the wooden floor as Cain stood up abruptly, nearly knocking it over. He felt nothing but pure disgust looking at the smug looking man in front of him and wondering how in the fuck he'd ever called someone that despicable his friend.

Sam didn't look very impressed with him and looked up at him with hooded eyes, swimming with barely tamed anger.

"Sit. Down. You're making a scene, Cain. Sol, sit the fuck down and listen to what I have to say because things will not go very well if we have a fight in the middle of a cafe."

Cain's nose turned up as his face contorted into a snarl at being talked to like a child. Sam had no right to go around ordering him to do things but as blonde hair popped into his mind he realized that it really would be bad if they got into a fight here. He had to be careful about those kinds of things now.

With a grimace he returned to his seat.

A pregnant silence rang out between the two of them as Sam patiently waited for Cain to calm down enough to speak.

"Why-" He ground out but it barely sounded like a word since he was trying so hard not to yell.

"Why," He tried again. "Did you do that to her?"

Sam shrugged, leaning back in his chair and sipping his coffee. "Because I wanted to."

Cain's face contorted violently as he struggled to not react. After staring at the black of the table in order to avoid looking at Sam's face and heaving a few shaky breaths he continued.

"Why the fuck did you tell him that I did it then?"

Sam leaned back over the table then, setting his coffee down and resting his elbows on the table. "I didn't like Westley. He was holding you back from your full potential. Everytime he would do some stupid shit and go into a fucking psychosis you would drop everything and go help him even though you knew he was a lost cause. With people like that, you just have to let them destroy themselves. You can't save them." He sighed.

"I see a lot of myself in you, Cain. People like us don't do well with the system we aren't meant for it. We're meant to get by in our own way. People like us aren't meant to save people, Cain. Especially not from themselves. So, I wanted to help you reach your full potential."

Cain suddenly felt incredibly uncomfortable sitting so close to this man that he once called a friend; a rapist, and a murderer, and an apparent psychopath. This man was absolutely not right in the head and Cain had no idea how he'd never realized it before.

He wanted to just get up and leave but he just needed to know one last thing.

"Why did you involve Kiersten in it then? You could have just killed Wes and been done with it."

Sam smiled then a strange one that was overly bright but didn't quite reach his eyes. As if he was overjoyed that Cain had asked.

"I was testing you. I wanted to know what you would do. What you would do if the pretty girl who reminded you of your sister was found like that; what you would do if even if you didn't do it, it was your fault; what you would do when the friend you dropped everything to protect wanted to kill you because of it. What you would do if you grew to hate me. The look in your eyes when you looked at me in disgust. It's been very fun seeing all of these things. I laughed for hours when Russ told me that you killed Alex and nearly killed him. Thank you for being such an exciting participant."

Cain stood again, slower this time and Sam calmly looked up at him with a smile on his face.

"You are fucking sick." He said lowly.

"Leaving already?" Sam asked cheerfully. "But you didn't touch the coffee I paid for."

"Fuck off." Cain spat, already walking away. He could hear Sam laughing behind him and it sent a chill down his spine.

It was only half past eight in the morning and he was already fucking exhausted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the cliffhanger! Really I just started thinking really hard about the plot and I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to do a few things and then I overthought it for 4 weeks. I highly suggest if you don't know already and don't mind manga spoilers to look up "Brian" if you don't already know who that is ;P. Small world, eh?
> 
> Thank you all so much for all your support last year. Truly. Somehow it's already almost been a year since I started this story and it's 100% thanks to you guys that I'm still writing it. I love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case anyone is wondering, Cain and Setsuka will both be interacting with characters from Skip Beat. I just don't want to say too much about that because spoilers ;)


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